A U.S. military strike on a vessel allegedly transporting narcotics from Venezuela has left two survivors who are reportedly being held aboard a U.S. Navy ship, according to American media reports. The attack, carried out on Thursday, marks at least the sixth U.S. strike on Venezuelan vessels in recent weeks—and the first in which survivors have been reported.
President Donald Trump confirmed the incident on Friday, describing the targeted vessel as a “drug-carrying submarine.” He defended the continuing U.S. military operations in the Caribbean, claiming the strikes are aimed at dismantling “narco-terrorist” networks linked to Venezuela. “This was not an innocent group of people,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know too many people who have submarines, and that was a drug-carrying, loaded submarine.”
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The two survivors were reportedly rescued by a U.S. military helicopter and transferred to a Navy warship operating in the region. However, U.S. officials have not released their identities or confirmed their condition. Neither Trump nor Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented directly on the survivors, with Rubio only promising additional details later in the day.
So far, the series of U.S. strikes in the Caribbean has killed at least 27 people. While Washington maintains that the operations target vessels engaged in narcotics trafficking, UN-appointed human rights experts have condemned the attacks as “extrajudicial executions.”
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whose leadership remains contested internationally, accused Trump of attempting to turn Venezuela into “an American colony.” Venezuela’s UN Ambassador, Samuel Moncada, denounced the assaults before the UN Security Council, saying, “There is a killer prowling the Caribbean. People from different countries are suffering the effects of these massacres.”
The government of Trinidad and Tobago announced it is investigating whether two of its citizens were among those killed in an earlier U.S. strike, given the proximity of the twin-island nation to Venezuela.
Meanwhile, concerns are mounting over the growing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean. Reports indicate that roughly 10,000 American troops are now stationed in the area, supported by naval vessels and U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers, which were seen patrolling the Caribbean Sea earlier this week.
Maduro has appealed for peace, warning that the U.S. escalation risks sparking a wider regional conflict.
