The US military launched its third strike against a vessel in the eastern Pacific this week, killing three men and pushing cumulative fatalities from the ongoing campaign above 200 deaths.
US Southern Command confirmed the Friday attack, describing the boat as engaged in narco-trafficking operations and operated by a designated terrorist organization. The command provided no supporting evidence for the allegations.
General Francis L Donovan, the top US military commander in Latin America, directed the strike. On the same day, Donovan met with Cuban military officials near Guantánamo Bay.
The latest attack marked a notable shift in military disclosure. While Southern Command routinely publishes strike footage, this represents the first video released in color rather than black and white. The footage shows a small vessel in the open ocean before impact, then cuts to flames and what appears to be scattered cargo or debris spread across the water.
The three deaths bring the total from strikes beginning in early September to 202 people. Two additional attacks were announced Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
The Trump administration has framed the campaign as a declaration of armed conflict against Latin American drug cartels, linking them to narcotics flowing into the United States. The administration has not released definitive proof that targeted vessels were actually engaged in drug trafficking operations.
The strikes have drawn sharp criticism. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called them unlawful extrajudicial killings. The American Civil Liberties Union characterized the administration's claims against the targets as unsubstantiated fear-mongering.
Legal experts and human rights advocates on both sides of the Atlantic have questioned whether the operations comply with international law and established rules of engagement.
Author James Rodriguez: "The administration is willing to rack up a body count on assertions alone, and that's a dangerous precedent that demands hard evidence, not just assertions made from a general's office."
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