"Peace" President Trump strikes again: This time off the coast of Venezuela

Trump’s latest act as Peace President and aspiring Nobel Peace Prize laureate is to sink a ship leaving Venezuela. The official justification was that the ship was connected to the drug cartel Tren de Aragua.

Matt Murphy and Joshua Cheetham report for BBC News:

Experts have also questioned whether the killing of the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua cartel could contravene international law on the use of force.

Under Article 2(4) of the UN charter, countries can resort to force when under attack and deploying their military in self-defence. Trump has previously accused the Tren de Aragua cartel of conducting irregular warfare against the US, and the state department has designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.

But Prof Michael Becker of Trinity College Dublin told BBC Verify that the US actions "stretches the meaning of the term beyond its breaking point".

"The fact that US officials describe the individuals killed by the US strike as narco-terrorists does not transform them into lawful military targets," he said. "The US is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or the Tren de Aragua criminal organization." (1)

This way, the Peace President lets his cult followers imagine him as the Incredible Orange Hulk: “Trump make boat go boom!” (2)

CNN reports:

What could possibly go wrong?

Juan González, the national security council’s senior director for the western hemisphere during the Biden administration, called Trump’s naval deployment “a lot of political theatre”. But he cautioned: “[There is a] very high risk of military confrontation.”

González feared South America’s sixth largest country could become the stage for “a protracted internal conflict” involving a variety of armed groups including government-linked paramilitary forces, criminal organizations and Colombian rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN), whose reach stretches from Venezuela’s western border hundreds of miles into the interior. …

“It’ll become the cause celebre for every kind of criminal or illegal armed group in the Americas … You’ll end up having people going to Venezuela to fight the Yankees and I think it’ll get messy,” González predicted. (3)

Other than that, it all looks like smooth sailing, huh?

Ryan Grim takes a dim view of the Peace President’s latest achievement:

Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum is still diplomatically but clearly telling the Trump 2.0 regime: Don’t even think of trying this in Mexico.

Notes:

(1) Murphy, Matt & Cheetham, Joshua (2025): BBC News 09/03/2025. <https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjzw3gplv7o> (Accessed: 2025-03-09).

(2) US strike kills 11 in strike on alleged drug boat tied to Venezuelan cartel, Trump says. CNN YouTube channel 09/03/2025. <https://youtu.be/lDaAlf4tHj8?si=KhGODbybVu18GNVZ> (Accessed: 2025-03-09).

(3) Trump BLOWS UP 'Cartel' Boat Near Venezuela. Breaking Points YouTube channel 09/03/2025. <https://youtu.be/sLFYoVF7fkc?si=aqqJClXkKab_GLj1> (Accessed: 2025-03-09).

(4) US tackling drug cartels off Venezuelan coast evokes 'long history of US intervention in the region'. DW News YouTube channel 09/04/2025. <http://us%20tackling%20drug%20cartels%20off%20venezuelan%20coast%20evokes%20'long%20history%20of%20us%20intervention%20in%20the%20region'/> (Accessed: 2025-04-09).