US Military Expands Caribbean Drug Strikes Amid Rising Death Toll, Bodies Wash Ashore Trinidad

The U.S. has intensified military operations targeting drug trafficking vessels off Venezuela's coast, resulting in multiple strikes that have killed over 40 people, including suspected members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang. This campaign, led by the Trump administration, aims to combat narcotics inflow and to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, although Venezuela is a minor player compared to other drug-producing countries. Concurrently, two unidentified bodies bearing burn marks and missing limbs washed ashore on Trinidad's northeast coast, raising concerns that they may be casualties of U.S. strikes. Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar supports the U.S. efforts, contrasting with regional condemnation and legal challenges to the strikes, which some experts and leaders argue violate international law by targeting civilians. The U.S. has increased its military presence in the Southern Caribbean, deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to bolster its counter-narcotics operations. Amid growing unease in Trinidad, questions remain about the identity of the dead and the broader humanitarian and geopolitical implications of the U.S. campaign in the region.