WASHINGTON (AP) — The two survivors of an American military strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean will be sent to Ecuador and Colombia, their home countries, President Donald Trump said Saturday.
“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route,” Trump said in a social media post.
The president has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
The repatriation would avoid questions for the Trump administration about what the legal status of the two would have been in the U.S. justice system.
Venezuelan government officials have also floated a plan in which Maduro would eventually leave office, according to a former Trump administration official.
WASHINGTON, AP — President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the two people who survived an American military strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean will be returned to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia.
After striking a submersible vessel Thursday—at least the sixth such attack since early September—the military rescued the two.
Trump wrote on social media, “It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well-known narcotrafficking transit route.”. “U. S. . According to intelligence, this ship was primarily carrying fentanyl and other illegal drugs. “.”.
The Pentagon shared a short black-and-white video of the strike on X following Trump’s announcement. The front part of a boat is seen in the video moving through the waves, just inches below the water’s surface. After that, there are multiple explosions, at least one of which occurs over the rear of the ship.
The two survivors are being sent back to their home countries “for detention and prosecution,” according to the Republican president, who also stated that two people on board were killed, one more than had been previously reported. “”.
Nonetheless, Ecuador’s government press office stated on Saturday that it was unaware of the repatriation plans.
Messages seeking comment from Colombia’s presidential press office and ministry of foreign affairs were not immediately answered.
Trump stated the death toll on his Truth Social platform, which would come to U.S. S. . At least 29 people have died as a result of military action against vessels in the region.
By claiming that the US is involved in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, the president has defended the strikes. His legal authority is the same as that of George W. Bush administration’s declaration of war on terrorism following the September attacks. 11 attacks, which includes the capacity to apprehend and hold combatants as well as to eliminate their leadership through the use of deadly force. Trump is also acting as though the alleged traffickers were adversary combatants in a conventional conflict.
The repatriation would spare the Trump administration from having to answer questions about the two’s legal status in the United States. S. court system. It might also avoid questions about the constitutionality of the current operation and some of the legal problems that emerged from the detention of enemy combatants in the worldwide war on terrorism.
Trump’s use of such military force against suspected drug cartels and his approval of clandestine operations inside Venezuela, potentially to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, are seen by some legal scholars as going beyond the bounds of international law.
In an apparent attempt to fend off growing pressure from the United States, Maduro has offered a share in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in recent months, according to reports that Trump appeared to confirm on Friday. An ex-official from the Trump administration claims that Venezuelan government representatives have also proposed a plan for Maduro to eventually step down. The Associated Press stated that the White House also disapproved of that plan.
Members of Congress from both parties have expressed discomfort over the strikes in the Caribbean and have made complaints about the lack of information they have received about the attacks’ methodology. However, last week, the majority of Republican senators supported the administration on a bill that would have required Congress’s approval before Trump’s team could proceed with additional strikes.
Another resolution under consideration would stop Trump from attacking Venezuela directly without first obtaining approval from Congress.
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