US sends survivors of strike on alleged ‘drug lords’ back to South America, Trump says
Two suspects who survived a US military raid on a suspected drug tanker in the Caribbean will be sent to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday.
The military targeted the pair after they struck a submarine on Thursday, in at least the sixth such attack since early September.
“It was my great privilege to destroy the largest narcotrafficking community that roamed the United States through the notorious Narcotraffic route,” Trump said in a social media post. “US intelligence confirmed that the vessel was heavily loaded with Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics.”
After Trump’s announcement, the Pentagon sent X a short black and white video of the strike. In this clip, the ship can be seen moving through the waves, its front part submerged inches below the surface of the water. After that, several explosions occur, at least one above the ship.
The Republican president said many bystanders were killed – one more than previously reported – and the two survivors were sent to their countries “for detention and prosecution.”
With Trump’s confirmation of the truth of his social discourse on the death toll, it means that the military action against the ships in the region has killed at least 29 people.
The President has prepared for the strikes by asserting that the United States is participating in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. He is relying on the same legal authority that the George W. Bush Administration used in the war on terror after the September 11 attacks, and that includes the power to arrest and locate their leadership. Trump is also treating suspected dealers as if they were enemy soldiers in a traditional war.
The extradition avoids questions from the Trump administration about what the legal status of the two would be in the US justice system. It may also alleviate some of the legal problems that have arisen in the identification of adversaries in the global war on terrorism and constitutional challenges to current practice.
For some legal scholars, the military use of this military power against the suspected Carsels, and his authorization of the operation of the action inside Venezuela, perhaps against President Nicolas Maduro, stretches the limits of international law.
What is President Donald Trump repeatedly attacking boats near Venezuela? Andrew Chang breaks threats The Trump Administration says it is responding to why Venezuela’s relationship with China could be one. Images provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters.
On Friday, Trump appeared to confirm reports that Maduro has offered a stake in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in recent months to try to stop mounting pressure from the United States. Venezuelan government officials have also drawn up a plan for Maduro to eventually leave office, according to a former Trump Administration official. That plan was also rejected by the White House, said the media associated with the press.
The strikes in the Caribbean have caused discomfort among members of Congress from both parties and complaints about insufficient information on how these attacks are carried out. But most Republicans backed the administration last week on a measure that would require the Trump administration to get approval from Congress before more surveillance.
Meanwhile, another solution worth considering would be to prevent Trump from openly attacking Venezuela without Ronmession’s approval.
