What does Trump want with boat strikes near Venezuela and Caribbean?

US air strikes against drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific have continued unabated since early September; this deadly campaign is now called Operation Southern Spear.

Tens of thousands of troops and significant air and naval assets were deployed to the region, collectively creating the largest U.S. military presence in and around Latin America in decades.

The Trump administration argues that the strikes are necessary to stop the flow of drugs into the United States.

But these were controversial and triggered fears of wider conflict in the region.

Here’s what we know.

President Trump and members of his administration have justified the attacks as a necessary counterdrug measure to stop the flow of drugs from Latin America onto U.S. streets.

The campaign, officially called Operation Southern Lance on Nov. 13, aims to remove “narco-terrorists from our hemisphere” and protect the United States from “drugs that are killing our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.

But the Pentagon has officially released little information about the targets or which drug trafficking organizations they purported to belong to.

In at least a few cases, Hegseth and several other officials have alleged that the targets were linked to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration earlier this year.

It is unclear how much impact U.S. officials believe the attacks have had on the broader flow of drugs, a significant portion of which crosses the land border between Mexico and the United States.

Between September 2 and November 13, U.S. forces struck at least 21 ships in 20 separate attacks in international waters in both the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific.

The vast majority of these attacks occurred off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia.

Collectively, at least 80 people were killed.

Although US forces did not publicly disclose the identities of these people, it was claimed that they were all “narco-terrorists”.

An Associated Press investigation reported that several Venezuelan citizens killed in the attacks were low-level smugglers driven by poverty to a life of crime, as well as at least one local crime boss.

The Trump administration has insisted that the attacks were legal, justifying them as a necessary self-defense measure aimed at saving American lives.

In a secret memo to Congress, the administration argued that the United States had engaged in armed conflict with drug cartels who were “illegal combatants” and whose actions (drug trafficking) “constituted an armed attack against the United States.”

But some legal experts have said that without legal action against suspects, the attacks could be illegal and violate international law by targeting civilians.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), told the BBC: believes strikes could be considered crimes against humanity.

Critics also questioned whether the White House followed US law when initially authorizing the attacks.

According to the US constitution, only Congress can declare war.

In October, President Trump said the United States was “permitted” to attack ships near Venezuela, but that his administration could “go back to Congress” if the campaign expanded to targets on land.

“We don’t have to do this,” he said. “But I think…I’d like to do it.”

As part of the operation, the United States deployed a significant strike force in the Caribbean and the Western Atlantic in close proximity to Venezuela.

This force includes the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, as well as a number of guided missile destroyers and amphibious assault ships capable of landing thousands of troops.

Additionally, US warplanes were deployed to bases in Puerto Rico and US long-range bombers flew in close proximity to Venezuela’s coastline.

Trump also acknowledged that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, but what that might mean remains highly classified.

This buildup has led to concerns that the United States is preparing to target Venezuela directly or potentially overthrow the left-wing socialist government of Nicolas Maduro.

On November 3, Trump downplayed the possibility of war with Venezuela but suggested that he believed Maduro’s days as the country’s president were numbered.

Asked whether the United States would go to war against Venezuela, the US president told CBS’ 60 Minutes: “I doubt it.”

“I don’t think so,” he added. “But they treat us very badly.”

Maduro’s government has accused the United States of increasing tensions in the region with the aim of overthrowing the government.

In response, the Venezuelan military announced readiness exercises and declared a “major troop mobilization” in November, sending 200,000 personnel across the country.

Maduro warned the United States not to interfere in Venezuela and called for peace.

“No more forever wars. No more unjust wars. No more Libya. No more Afghanistan,” Maduro said on CNN on November 13. “Long live peace.”