President Trump, by designating Tren de Aragua (TDA) a terrorist organization, was justified, he said, in having U.S. forces take out a Venezuelan drug boat with 11 TDA members on board.
The dramatic action sent a message not only to the TDA cartel but also to Venezuela strongman Nicolás Maduro.
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The episode reminded me of President George H.W. Bush and his decisive action to take out Panama strongman Manuel Noriega, but that action involved U.S. troops on the ground. The boat take-out was done solely from aircraft.
Under Article 2(4) of the UN charter, countries can resort to force when under attack and deploying their military in self-defense.
Trump said the U.S. met that criterion because of TDA’s assault on Americans through fentanyl and its deadly consequences, the equivalent of an armed attack.
“You had massive amounts of drugs,” Trump told reporters Wednesday about the strike. “We have tapes of them speaking. It was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people,” then quickly adding, “They won’t be doing it again.”
Venezuelan President Maduro didn’t immediately respond, but a spokesman said the video was generated by AI and not genuine.
Later on, Maduro said Venezuela was prepared to respond to any attacks and said the move amounted to “an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.”
It’s nice to see Trump 45 back and sending a message of strength. Now, if he would only handle the superpowers — Russia and China — with the same show of strength, even if just economically.