The US military has carried out a lethal strike on a vessel it said was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, according to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, as Donald Trump further ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela, accusing the country of taking 'our oil'.
On Wednesday, Hegseth said the 'lethal kinetic strike' on a vessel involved in 'narco-trafficking operations' had killed four people. The latest strike in the Pacific brings the death toll to 99 since the US began its campaign of striking alleged drug-trafficking boats in September.
The announcement came a day after Trump said he had instituted a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, accusing Caracas of using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes. Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, struck a defiant note on Wednesday, insisting it was proceeding with business as usual. 'Export operations for crude and byproducts continue normally. Oil tankers linked to PDVSA operations continue to sail with full security,' said state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.
Trump has overseen a major military deployment off the coast of Venezuela. President Nicolás Maduro held telephone talks with UN Secretary General António Guterres to discuss what he called the 'escalation of threats' from Washington. China, the main market for Venezuelan oil, defended Caracas, with its foreign minister stating that 'China opposes all unilateral bullying and supports all countries in defending their sovereignty and national dignity'.
On Wednesday, House Republicans rejected Democratic-backed resolutions that would have forced the Trump administration to seek congressional authorisation before continuing attacks against cartels or launching an attack on Venezuela. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, argued that Trump's aggressions were really because 'the president is coveting Venezuelan oil'. Trump himself cited lost US investments in Venezuela when asked about the blockade, saying: 'You remember they took all of our energy rights... And we want it back.'
The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, waded into the dispute on Wednesday, declaring that the United Nations was 'nowhere to be seen' and asked that it step up to 'prevent any bloodshed'.
