US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as “fake news” the information that a second attack was committed against the first ship destroyed by the US military in the Caribbean, after it was confirmed that there were still survivors, under the order issued by Hegseth himself to eliminate the entire crew of the alleged drug boat.
The Pentagon chief said in a message on his social media account
With this letter, Hegseth intends to dismantle information from American media outlets such as The Washington Post or The Intercept confirming that the Secretary of Defense gave the order to “kill all” of the ship’s crew. In this way, after shooting at the boat the first time and noticing that at least two people survived, they attacked again to end the lives of the eleven people on board.
“As we have said from the beginning and in every statement, these highly effective attacks are specifically designed to be ‘lethal kinetic attacks’. The stated goal is to stop deadly drugs, destroy drug ships, and eliminate drug terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every smuggler we eliminate belongs to a designated terrorist organization,” Hegseth explained.
The Minister of Defense stressed that the operations carried out by the US military in the Caribbean region are “legal under American and international law” and that they have the support of the “best” lawyers.
Likewise, he showed his absolute support for the soldiers of the army’s Southern Command – responsible for operations in the region – whom he described as “warriors” who “risk their lives every day.”
Attacks against alleged drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean began in September with the deaths of these 11 people, and have so far left more than 80 people dead in more than 20 bombings criticized by various international organizations warning of violations of international law.
This new accusation of leaving no survivors adds to the already criticized US operation against drug trafficking, which also put the Venezuelan authorities in its crosshairs after declaring the Sun Cartel a terrorist organization behind which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is responsible.