The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said today, Sunday (30), that he will investigate information published by the press about a double attack carried out by Washington against a ship in the Caribbean Sea, under an alleged order from the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, to kill all the people on board the ship.
Reports from CNN and the Washington Post said on Friday (28) that US military forces, after the first attack on a boat allegedly transporting drugs on September 2, carried out a second raid to kill two survivors who were clinging to the burning ship.
“I will look into it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. The president added, “I don’t know anything about that. He (US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth) claims that he did not order it, and I believe him,” based on the Defense Minister’s denial.
One person interviewed by The Washington Post stated that Hegseth’s order was to “kill everyone.” He denies this, saying it is “fake news.” In response to a question about whether he wanted to launch a second strike in this situation, Trump said: “No, I did not want that. Pete says that did not happen.”
Since September, US military forces have carried out a series of attacks against ships aimed at combating drug trafficking in Venezuela. The American mobilization includes ships, fighters, thousands of soldiers, and the largest aircraft carrier in the world. Caracas claims that the maneuvers are not aimed at combating drug trafficking, but rather at overthrowing the regime of dictator Nicolas Maduro.
The US Department of Justice confirms that the operations are legal, but the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Washington to investigate the legality of the attacks, after stating that there is “conclusive evidence” that they constitute “extrajudicial executions.”
Also on Sunday, Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the body would form a special committee to investigate Washington’s deadly attacks on boats off the Venezuelan coast and in the Pacific Ocean. Rodriguez said on state television that the investigation would analyze the report published by the Washington Post on Friday.
Aboard Air Force One, Trump also confirmed that he spoke by phone with the Venezuelan dictator, as reported by The New York Times on Friday. But Trump did not say what he talked about with Maduro, who sees increasing US pressure against the regime.
According to the New York Times, the leaders had discussed the possibility of Maduro visiting the United States and meeting with Trump. People close to the Venezuelan regime told the New York Times that there was no visit scheduled.
Venezuela has asked the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for help in stopping what it described as aggression from the United States, according to a letter from Maduro issued on Sunday (30).