Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his country"eliminated" three vessels in total off Venezuela, a day after reporting a second U.S. attack on boats allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean.
"We actually took out three vessels, not two, but you saw two," Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for Britain for a state visit.
"Stop sending drugs to the United States," he declared in response to a journalist who asked him what message he wanted to send to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump offered no evidence that the attack took place, nor did he specify the coordinates in the Caribbean where it took place.
His government also did not immediately provide further details on the exact location or date of this third attack.
According to Donald Trump, an initial US attack on a boat suspected of carrying drug traffickers had left eleven dead on September 2 in the Caribbean, where the United States has deployed eight vessels.
Trump then mentioned another attack on Monday on his Truth Social platform"in the area of responsibility of Southcom," the U.S. military command for South America and the Caribbean.
This attack killed three Venezuelan"narco-terrorists," he said in a message accompanied by a video showing a stationary boat, with people on board, exploding offshore.
U.S. ships in the Caribbean also detained and searched a Venezuelan tuna vessel over the weekend as part of that deployment.
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These attacks have triggered a military mobilization in Venezuela and alarmed other countries in the region, such as Colombia and Brazil.
Venezuelan fighter jets flew over US ships, and Washington responded by deploying F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.
The United States accuses Maduro of leading a drug trafficking network, the Cartel of the Suns, whose existence is subject to debate.
"There is an ongoing military aggression, and Venezuela is empowered by international law to confront it," Maduro declared during a press conference on Monday.
The country will exercise its"legitimate right to defend itself," Maduro warned, calling the U.S. accusations"lies," stating that cocaine exported to the United States, the world's largest consumer, transits primarily through the Pacific and Ecuadorian ports.
"International law does not allow governments to simply kill suspected drug traffickers," experts said in a statement released by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
"Criminal activities must be halted, investigated, and prosecuted in accordance with the rule of law, including through international cooperation," added this statement from three experts who regularly collaborate with the agency.
The text is signed by Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions; and George Katrougalos, independent expert.
"International law does not permit the unilateral use of force outside the country's territory to combat terrorism or drug trafficking," they stressed.
The Trump administration is invoking legislation that the United States implemented after the September 11, 2001, attacks, which it claims allows such actions, which, according to official sources, are also being carried out in international waters.
Lethal bombing outside the United States has been used regularly by Republican and Democratic administrations in recent decades, and by other countries as well, such as in the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
