US boat strikes kill 8 in eastern Pacific as Washington escalates pressure on Venezuela

The US military says it has carried out new lethal strikes on boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing eight people, as Washington intensifies its military assaults against what it claims to be drug trafficking, but which Caracas says is designed to destabilize Venezuela.

In a statement on social media on Monday, the US military said that American forces attacked three boats accused of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three people on the first vessel, two on the second, and three on the third.

It described the targets as “designated terrorist organizations” but provided no evidence to support the drug-trafficking allegations, releasing only a video showing a boat moving across the water before exploding.

“On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” the US Southern Command said in a post on X.

“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking,” it further claimed.

The announcement comes as scrutiny continues to grow in the US Congress over the legality and human cost of these strikes while the US military pressure escalates on Venezuela.

American President Donald Trump has so far defended the lethal attacks as a necessary escalation to what he describes as curbing drug flows into the US, claiming Washington is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

However, lawmakers are increasingly questioning the campaign, which has reportedly killed at least 95 people in 25 known strikes since early September. That toll includes a widely criticized follow-up strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to wreckage after an initial attack, intensifying concerns over civilian casualties and rules of engagement.

‘Get out, thief. Your mask has fallen’: Maduro denounces US for targeting Venezuela’s oil

The Venezuelan president denounces the United States for using allegations of drug trafficking as a pretext to seize his country’s natural resources, particularly oil.

The latest strikes come just ahead of closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other senior officials are expected to address legislators.

The military campaign has also sharply increased pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who faces so-called narcoterrorism charges brought against him by the US.

After US forces seized a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker last week, Maduro said Washington’s real objective is regime change, not drug control. Meanwhile, the US has assembled its largest regional military presence in decades, expanded deadly operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, and signaled that land attacks may follow, though without specifying where or when.

Other than military threats, Washington has also imposed sanctions on Caracas. In a recent move, the Trump administration announced financial bans on three of Maduro’s nephews and six oil tankers and shipping firms.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir