US Strikes Another Alleged Drug Boat Off Venezuela, 6 Killed

9 HOURS AGO·UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

story

Above: A U.S. Navy missile destroyer docks at the Amador International Cruise Terminal in Panama City on Sept. 2, 2025. Image copyright: Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

These military strikes on drug-carrying boats are exactly the kind of bold action needed to protect U.S. lives from narco-terrorist organizations that have been allowed to flood the U.S. with a deadly weapon that has poisoned Americans for too long. Traditional law enforcement approaches have clearly failed to stop this carnage. Either Venezuelan drug traffickers surrender, or new strikes will follow.

The Spectator World PJ Media Red State

Establishment-critical narrative

The Trump administration is carrying out extrajudicial executions in violation of international law and basic due process rights that define civilized society, similar to the War on Terror. This is the fifth time that the U.S. has struck boats in the Caribbean and failed to offer evidence of a crime or even the names of those killed. This approach has caused no damage to the criminal and illegitimate Maduro regime, only the brutal killing of nobodies.

Caracas Chronicles Reason.com X

Pro-Maduro narrative

Washington has provided no evidence for cartel accusations against high officials in the Maduro government, so this military buildup is just another doomed-to-fail regime change attempt disguised as anti-drug operations. If this were actually about tackling drug cartels, the U.S. would not focus on a country that is free of drug production and processing, but rather on its own drug demand and lax enforcement.

Jacobin Venezuelanalysis