Russia, Venezuela decry US strike on vessel in the Caribbean
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Russia and Venezuela condemn US military actions in the Caribbean Sea after a deadly strike off the Venezuelan coast on October 3.
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President Donald Trump is greeted by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth before speaking to a gathering of top US military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va (AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil have expressed serious concern about recent US actions in the Caribbean Sea during a telephone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
"The two ministers expressed grave concern over Washington's increasingly escalatory actions in the Caribbean Sea, which are fraught with far-reaching consequences for the entire region," the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement read.
It added that Russia strongly condemns the US military's October 3 strike on a vessel in international waters off the Venezuelan coast.
US attacks boats in the Caribbean with no due process or proof
On October 3, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated that the US had conducted a strike on what was alleged to be a drug trafficking vessel within the area of responsibility of the US Southern Command off the Venezuelan coast, an action which he reported resulted in the deaths of four individuals described as "narco-terrorists."
This most recent strike, which brings the death toll to at least 21 people across four attacks in recent weeks, involves victims who have not been positively identified as traffickers. With Washington having offered no independent proof to link the victims to drug networks, the situation raises serious concerns that the US is unilaterally executing individuals in foreign waters under a fabricated pretext.
This new military doctrine originates from President Donald Trump's declaration that the United States is now in "armed conflict" with drug cartels, a policy that reclassifies them as "terrorist organizations" and has been condemned by legal scholars as an attempt to bypass international law.
The Trump administration has openly celebrated these operations as demonstrations of strength rather than law enforcement, with Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, declaring that traffickers had been "turned into stardust." This narrative was echoed by Trump on Truth Social, writing that "A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory."
Independent analysts and international law experts argue that the campaign bears all the hallmarks of a covert regime change operation, particularly as the strikes come amid an unprecedented US military buildup near Venezuela, including the deployment of F-35 warplanes to Puerto Rico, which marks the largest show of force in the Caribbean in more than three decades.
