The Trump administration has ramped up military operations across the Caribbean in recent weeks, including attacks on targets the U.S. alleges are trafficking drugs. In doing so, Washington is further blurring the line between law enforcement and military operations, utilizing questionable authorizations while providing few details on strikes targeting small vessels said to be from Venezuela. These actions raise serious questions about both the balance of power between U.S. branches of government and how the military adheres to transparency in its operations.
As of this writing, U.S. military personnel have targeted and destroyed at least three small vessels in the Caribbean that the administration claims were Venezuelan cartel-operated drug smuggling ships. Those strikes occurred on September 2,15, and a third unknown date, killing at least 17 people.
Officials have justified these decisions by citing Trump’s designation of various Latin American cartels and gangs as terrorist organizations, arguing that these groups have steadily “invaded” the United States for years to poison American society with drugs. These same officials argue that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is an illegitimate head of state who leads multiple gangs and cartels smuggling drugs into the country and targeting U.S. citizens.
This use of terror designations does more than merely aim to legitimize military buildup and action to the south of the United States. In designating the groups as terror organizations akin to Al-Qaeda, as some Trump officials argue, the administration likely aims to connect them to previously passed Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) declarations that have driven Washington’s so-called global “War on Terror.”
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