[Salon] From drone to boat murders

[Chas Freeman <cwfresidence@gmail.com>]

https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/news/detail/10225

From drone to boat murders

Trump is holding on to his threats of war against Venezuela and is expanding his threats against other countries, especially Colombia. Berlin ("human rights") is silent about this - as well as the US boat murders in the Caribbean.

04 DEZ 2025

"The End of International Law"

US President Donald Trump expands his war threats against the states of Latin America and in principle offers US bombings to every country from which drugs are smuggled into the USA. "Anyone who does this can be attacked," Trump announced on Tuesday. 1] Specifically, he referred this to Colombia. Its president Gustavo Petro has repeatedly criticized Trump's war preparations against Venezuela and the US boat murders in the Caribbean - also because at least one fisherman from Colombia has fallen victim to them and the US missile attacks on the boats prevent numerous Colombian fishermen from pursuing their profession on the high seas; the risk of being killed there by the US military is too great. 2] Petro has also sharply protested against Trump's announcement to close the airspace over Venezuela. If Trump gets away with it, then not only the "concept of national sovereignty" is history, but the complete "concept of 'international law'", he wrote on X. 3] In response to the recent threat of the US president, Petro replied that any attack on Colombia's sovereignty would amount to "a declaration of war". 4]

"Kill everyone"

The US boat murders in the Caribbean and occasionally in the Pacific are now also beginning to meet with serious protest elsewhere. The fact that drug smuggling is a crime, but not an act of war, has been causing anxiety in Washington for a long time about the actions of the Trump administration, which kills people with its attacks on the boats without proving their guilt and without having put them on trial. That's equivalent to ordinary murders. On Tuesday, the family of a murdered fisherman from Colombia filed their first complaint with the Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos (CIDH, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights); they want to help end the boat murders.[ 5] Meanwhile, a scandal has been caused in Washington that US military after the first attack on a boat in violation of international law on the 2nd. In September, two survivors who clung to the wreckage of the boat were murdered in cold blood with another rocket. This is explicitly prohibited by international as well as US law.[ 6] Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had previously ordered, according to witnesses, "kill everyone". We know from Hegseth that he seeks to circumvent the rules of operation for the US military as comprehensively as possible. 7]

Civilian victims

The boat murders are reminiscent of the era of US drone murders, especially in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. For many years, the US governments under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump had actual or alleged jihadists persecute and kill them with drones - even if they were not in a combat or preparation for it. According to international law, this is also illegal if jihadists are not considered as criminals, but as combatants in a war. In addition, countless civilians died in the drone attacks. In 2013, an internal analysis by the US armed forces showed that only ten percent of the people who lost their lives to drone attacks in Afghanistan were targets. 8] The exact number of civilian deaths is still unknown; it is probably far into the thousands. During Barack Obama's term alone, the United States carried out 1,878 drone attacks; in the first two years of Donald Trump's first term, 2,243 more followed.[ 9] If you add the victims of air raids with manned aircraft, experts assume at least 22,000, but perhaps even up to 48,000 civilian deaths.[ 10]

Who should withdraw

The number of boat murders is up to 16. November rose to 83 people who died in 21 attacks on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. 11] Since then, no further number of victims has been officially confirmed. How many more people have been killed in US attacks is unknown. In France and Great Britain, the US approach has now recognisably aroused criticism. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said at the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting on 11. November declares that in Paris "the military operations in the Caribbean are observed with concern" - because they "detade from international law". 12] Britain had even stopped the transfer of intelligence data related to drug smuggling in the Caribbean to the United States in order not to be prosecuted for complicity in the murders. Only the German government sees no reason to express criticism. "We are of the opinion that the United States and Venezuela must resolve the issue bilaterally," said Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting; in addition, it must "be clear now ... for Venezuela that it must also withdraw accordingly". 13]

Allies

Meanwhile, Trump maintains his threat of attacks on Venezuelan territory. The attacks would take place "very soon", he announced. While he further legitimizes this by saying that drug traffickers must be eliminated - deadly attacks on them without any court ruling would also be murder on land - he pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández on Monday. The former president of Honduras had been sentenced to 45 years in prison by a US court in 2024 for smuggling several hundred tons of cocaine into the United States. Of course, he belongs to the right-wing Partido Nacional de Honduras (PNH), which is relatively close to Trump. 14] Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, who comes from a dynasty of banana traders, is also associated with cocaine smuggling. According to research, cocaine has been found several times in banana deliveries of Noboa Trading to Europe. 15] Noboa is also considered a reliable ally of Trump.[ 16]

[1] Trump says any country trafficking drugs into US could be attacked. reuters.com 02.12.2025.

[2] S. to this boycotted his own summit.

Demian Bio: Colombian President Petro Slams Trump for Saying Venezuela's Airspace Should Be Considered Closed: 'Under What Norm Of International Law?' latintimes.com 11/30/2025.

[4] Trump says any country trafficking drugs into US could be attacked. reuters.com 02.12.2025.

[5] Mauricio Torres, Michael Rios: Colombian family files first known formal complaint over deadly US strike in Caribbean. edition.cnn.com 02.12.2025.

[6] Alex Horton, Ellen Nakashima: Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all. washingtonpost.com 28.11.2025.

[7] Michael R. Gordon, Alexander Ward, Vera Bergengruen: Hegseth's Decadeslong Quest to Rewrite the Rules of Engagement.

[8] US deadly drone strikes. amnesty.org.uk 18.05.2020.

[9] Trump revokes Obama rule on reporting drone strike deaths. bbc.co.uk 07.03.2019.

[10] Peter Beaumont: US airstrikes killed at least 22,000 civilians since 9/11, analysis finds. theguardian.com 07.09.2021.

[11] Lazaro Gamio, Carol Rosenberg, Charlie Savage: Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks. nytimes.com 16.11.2025.

[12] Latin America/Caraïbes – G7 – Statements à la presse de Jean-Noël Barrot à son arrival à Niagara, dans le cadre de sa participation à la réunion des ministres étrangères du G7 (11 November 2025).

[13] Majid Sattar: Rubio gives Trump legroom. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 14.11.2025.

[14] Christopher Sherman, Mike Catalini: Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández freed after Trump pardon. apnews.com 03.12.2025.

[15] Daniel Noboa's family business, President of Ecuador, is involved in cocaine trafficking to Europe. revistaraya.com 29.03.2025.

[16] Ociel Alí López: President Noboa: Another Trump Ally in Latin America. jacobin.com 20.04.2025.