US -Militärstreik vor der Küste von Venezuela stört das Leben in verarmten Fischergemeinden
https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-strike-caribbean-drug-trafficking-trump-1061debe2f983ef7bc9666d3f002b3a0
US -Militärstreik vor der Küste von Venezuela stört das Leben in verarmten Fischergemeinden
https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-strike-caribbean-drug-trafficking-trump-1061debe2f983ef7bc9666d3f002b3a0
13 Kommentare
And the drugs disrupt life in American communities. You run drugs, you are going to get blown up.
GÜIRIA, Venezuela (AP) — [On Venezuela’s Paria Peninsula](https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/venezuela-us-fishing-military-strike-communities-attack-500df97012c199c3471ffaff65174540), an idyllic stretch of Caribbean coast, it is an open secret that boats departing from its ports transport both drugs and fish.
Residents claim not to know who owns the illegal cargo, but they can tell when business is doing well because people eat out, get their hair and nails done and buy expensive meat. They also admit that none of this has happened since the U.S. military [struck on one of those boats earlier this month](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-strike-rubio-trump-0f901b2a30ee20e314bcab1385ffb0c0).
Few details are known about the deadly Sept. 2 strike on a boat the Trump administration claims departed Venezuela carrying drugs and 11 members of the [Tren de Aragua gang](https://apnews.com/article/tren-de-aragua-gang-venezuela-trump-40ec0390047c2b17e961dd029da02e65), fueling speculation. Fishermen in the peninsula told The Associated Press they do not entirely blame those who enter the illegal trade, as living off fishing alone in Venezuela today is to accept a life of poverty.
Fishing boats in the breathtaking peninsula have been repurposed to smuggle migrants, traffic humans, wildlife and fuel. These so-called “other businesses” have flourished since Venezuela’s economic collapse a decade ago.
“There is no revolution here,” said retiree Alberto Díaz, referring to the self-described socialist movement that the late Hugo Chávez launched in Venezuela in 1999 with the promise of improving the lives of the poor using the country’s oil. “What there is here is hunger, sacrifice, pure pain.”
Walking through the Güiria neighborhood of one of the strike’s victims, Díaz lamented the decline of the local fishing industry, which once offered jobs with living wages and a way for people “to be happy.”
Speculation over the strike is still going around Venezuela, with people wondering who died and whether their deaths are part of a plan to topple [President Nicolás Maduro](https://apnews.com/hub/nicolas-maduro). Some have questioned their government’s assertions that a video of the strike released by [U.S. President Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) was created with artificial intelligence and that a boat of that size cannot venture into the high seas.
[part 2] But fishermen in the peninsula, who know their craft, immediately recognized some characteristics of the boat from the video. They said it was a 12-meter-long fishing boat known in Venezuela as “peñero” with four powerful and expensive motors. They estimated the engines were at least 200 horsepower each, a force five times more powerful than that typically used on local peñeros.
“Fishing doesn’t pay enough to buy a motor like that,” said fisherman Junior González, taking a break from repairing a boat along the shore of Guaca. Only a handful of roughly two dozen sardine processing plants still operate in this community following years of overfishing, failed restoration and [the country’s overarching crisis](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-deportation-migrants-maduro-trump-us-385d4a2b9b2148029b326302e4ba80c7).
González explained that the motors he uses run between $4,000 and $5,000 each, while one of those needed to reach [Trinidad and Tobago](https://apnews.com/hub/trinidad-and-tobago) — the suspected destination of the targeted boat — sell for $15,000 to $20,000.
The Trump administration has yet to explain how the military assessed the boat’s cargo and determined the passengers’ alleged gang affiliation before the attack. National security officials told members of Congress last week that the boat was fired on multiple times after it had changed course.
The strike, which followed a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean, marked a paradigm shift in how the U.S. is willing to combat drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. military killed three other people Monday after [striking a second vessel](https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-drug-cartels-05c5b0de282178419d46a3e93fbd2521) that Trump said was carrying drugs from Venezuela.
[Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello](https://apnews.com/article/maduro-cabinet-shuffle-diosdado-cabello-66d9d34ce5f8ba5bc477fb1eb8ccd4ac) has said authorities are investigating the first strike but has not provided further details. [He, Maduro and other government officials](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-fbi-bondi-justice-department-0e618369ca68b79b1a2143a95955344a) have repeatedly said Venezuela is not a key player in global drug trafficking.
While some fishermen supplement their income with drug trafficking out of desperation, Christopher Sabatini, a research fellow at the Chatham House in London, said [the Trump administration](https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-destroyers-maduro-drug-cartels-9649e8282c061d9dad41a5dfb54431d4) “has completely exaggerated” the scope of their illicit activities by linking them to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang and deeming them an immediate threat to the U.S.
“If you look at (the boats), these could never make the journey all the way up the Caribbean to the United States,” Sabatini said. “These are small-scale fishermen — and now small-scale drug traffickers — that don’t represent the crux of the issue.”
As an American…
Isn’t this like… illegal? Where is the proof? You keep blowing them up. Literally killing people for allegedly drug smuggling. Which is NOT a death penalty offense in the first place. There were reports one of them was actually turning back.
Like… wtf? Feels like there should be more outcry.
“There is no revolution here,” said retiree Alberto Díaz, referring to the self-described socialist movement that the late Hugo Chávez launched in Venezuela in 1999 with the promise of improving the lives of the poor using the country’s oil. “What there is here is hunger, sacrifice, pure pain.”
„disrupts life in impoverished fishing communities“
Disrupting anyone who runs drugs is the point. Whether it is some fishermen moonlighting or whether they are professional drug runners is probably not the white house will give a sh*t about.
It may be illegal, but ironically, fewer people will be willing to run drugs this way and drugs may be slowed, until, of course, they find alternatives.
If they use planes, I wonder if the feds will shoot them down too.
How do you think the American government will respond if other nations start drone striking Americans without evidence?
If this was a more afflluent country, the market would be going crazy about it. But silence…
Because of course it does.
Once again, murdering Venezuelans to distract that trump raped a 13 year old and protects rich pedophiles
Venezuelan here…
A few agos before the 4th strike there was a big explosion in a building in my city Maracaibo apparantly was a „fireworks factory“. However, there are some rumours on the local populations saying that it’s was something related to drugs and the regime is trying to clean everything, also like 3 days laters there was another big explosion in another city more to the west of the country.
But, this barely shows on the news since everyone is focus on the US strikes on „fisherman“.
EDIT: just to clarify US government hasn’t do any strike on Venezuela territory at the moment this explosion was „accidentally“ but according to rumors this building was connected to the cartel de los soles and the regime is trying to clean their shit, but these are just rumors so can’t deny our confirm anything.
„Military strike“ – Extrajudicial murder of civilians in international waters
Essentially the US navy is just blowing up random ships on the high seas.
Soon we’re all gonna be domestic terrorists that can be bombed because a face covered in cheeto dust and his billionaire friends don’t like how we want all peoples needs met.