President Donald Trump announced on Monday that U.S. military forces had once again targeted a vessel allegedly linked to Venezuelan drug traffickers, killing three people in international waters, in what Washington describes as a broader campaign against “narcoterrorists.”

“We knocked off actually three boats, but you saw two,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. 

Legal scholars, human-rights groups, and lawmakers have questioned the strikes’ legality, noting the earlier September 2 strike that killed 11 and warning that summary use of lethal force without clear evidence or congressional authorization risks extrajudicial killings and regional destabilization.

Caracas has reacted with fury. President Nicolás Maduro denounced the strikes as “a military and diplomatic aggression,” charging that Washington is manufacturing justifications to pressure Caracas and even pointing to alleged regional threats and U.S. troop movements.

“They fabricate excuses with lies to justify the attack,” he said, describing the strikes as part of an effort to push for regime change.

For many in Latin America, the pattern is familiar: drug-smuggling allegations that critics say can be repurposed to delegitimize governments.  Caracas is now demanding transparent evidence, third-party inquiries, and urgent diplomacy to avert a dangerous spiral in the southern Caribbean.