this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
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Interior minister says ‘murder has been committed’ amid rising tensions over US military strike on boat in Caribbean

None of the 11 people killed in a US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean last week were members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s interior minister has said, as the South American country deployed troops amid heightened tensions with the US.

The administration of Donald Trump has said the boat was transporting illegal narcotics, but has provided scant further information about the incident, even amid demands from members of the US Congress for a justification for the action.

“They openly confessed to killing 11 people,” the interior minister and ruling party head, Diosdado Cabello, said on state television. “We have done our investigations here in our country and there are the families of the disappeared people who want their relatives, and when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers.

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[–] yesman@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The only person in Washington talking sense about this is... Wait, let me double check. Uh, yea it's Rand Paul.

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 14 points 1 year ago

You know things are bad when the voice of reason is Rand Paul

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

That Rand Paul is the voice of reason bodes very very badly.

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 36 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The thing with blowing them up instead of taking them into custody, is that there is no evidence to prove the allegations against them. They blew it up. If they really wanted to justify their actions, this was not the way.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We know they probably weren't just speedboat enthusiasts but blowing the boat up sets a precedent for extrajudicial killing without first establishing guilt.

Of course, this had nothing to do with justice, it was only about sending a very visual message to the other cartels that only US backed cartels are allowed.

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

Given that Venezuela has chronic shortages of almost everything, these days...it's entirely possible they were smugglers. But they could have been smuggling anything from mail-order packages, to cash, or even medicine. We'll never know now.

[–] frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know they're probably full of shit like any corrupt politicians, but it's nice to have them fight back. Even if they were convicted gang members, the US murdered all of them. I hope they spend the next few years fucking with this administration as much as possible. We need to get back to that place where locals fling shoes at our politicians, because we suck and need to back the fuck off.

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[–] commander@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This will just motivate Venezuela to hurry around their military modernization effort possibly with a lot more public support than before

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[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I don't trust Trump about this, but I trust Venezuela about as much as I trust Trump.

[–] forrgott@lemmy.zip 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Eh, Trump is absolute bottom of my list. Even if it's by a barely measurable amount, I trust everyone more than Trump. No exceptions.

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just because you haven't heard as much from Nicolas Maduro. Maduro's (lack of) connection to reality is similar to Trump's. In a slightly different world they would be best buddies.

[–] forrgott@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

No

I meant what I said, to and frankly can do without the insulting tone.

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[–] Sumocat@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

All else being equal, the guy who destroys all the evidence is less trustworthy.

[–] Willy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

have you heard why there were 11 drug dealers together on a small boat and where they were supposed to be going?

[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers

Both sides provided "trust me, bro" as their proof.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ok but the usa is the one who attacked so they are the one who has to provide evident. Venezuela doesn't have to prove anything

[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Even if they were gang members smuggling drugs, that's still not how the law is dealt in the civilized world. They're still civilians and it's still murder.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Agree i only debated that part of your previous comment Both sides provided "trust me, bro" as their proof.

There is only one side who should provide proofs with is the USA

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago

You've been trained well.

[–] crystalmerchant@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

....and the right says "well it was the liberals' fault so can you blame us??"

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean obviously Trump and his goons are full of shit but so is Maduro. Is the any actual information about who these murder victims were and what they were doing? Just curious…

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Doesn't matter. It's a war crime either way.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Like I said I’m just curious. Although there is no war so I think mass murder is maybe a more appropriate term?

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It is a war crime as defined by the International Court. You don't have to be in a formal war to commit a war crime.

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Doesn't matter if it's a war crime if there's no way to prosecute anyone.

[–] zrst@lemmy.cif.su 0 points 1 year ago

Yeah, but it makes the poster feel good about himself.

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[–] Korne127@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Collateral murder, just that it's not leaked but openly posted and there is basically no outcry

[–] Korne127@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Paul has argued the US cannot simply kill people suspected of wrongdoing without due process

The fact that this is a real sentence in a real news article is honestly beyond insane.