US President Trump carried out yet another lethal strike off the Venezuelan coast on October 14, killing six people. In a social media post, Trump claimed the six men killed above the ship were “narcoterrorists,” without providing any evidence.

This latest airstrike is the fifth of its kind, with world leaders and international activists condemning the Trump policy as a violation of human rights. The death toll of Trump’s strikes against small boats in the Caribbean Sea now stands at 27.

The airstrikes represent the latest escalation of a tense relationship between the United States and Venezuela. Last week, Trump ordered the termination of diplomacy with Venezuela. Richard Grenell, special presidential envoy, was directed by Trump to halt all diplomatic outreach and talks with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

On Tuesday, October 14, Trump once again repeated allegations that the Venezuelan government is responsible for introducing gangs into the US. “What they do very well is they send their criminals into the United States, and they send Tren de Aragua.”

The Trump administration has pushed the narrative that Venezuela is a leader in drug trafficking through the groups “Tren de Aragua”, now designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Trump administration, and “Cartel de los Soles” as a way to push escalation in the Caribbean Sea and justify Trump’s draconian immigration policies, including justifying massive ICE raids and the illegal deportation of 250 Venezuelans to El Salvador earlier this year.

A declassified assessment from the US National Intelligence Council, released in early May 2025, that the Venezuela’s government “probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States.”

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