A new, seemingly not yet publicly disclosed U.S. strike on a boat in the Caribbean has left survivors for the first time, reports say.
Reuters, citing a U.S. official, reported that the U.S. bombed what they claim is a drug trade-related vessel on Thursday. However, unlike the military’s previous five strikes, which were publicly disclosed by officials, the attack did not kill all of the people on board, the source said.
Other news outlets confirmed that the strike had not killed everyone on board, and that this was a first amid the current escalation, officials said.
Trump administration officials have not touted the strike on social media. Footage and information on previous strikes that the U.S. has said killed 27 people altogether have been posted online by military officials and President Donald Trump, with the administration seemingly using the footage — something not typically posted online in such a matter — as a show of strength. The posts announcing the strikes were typically made just hours after they occurred.
News of the attack comes amid the sudden announcement of the departure of the top military official overseeing the strikes in the Caribbean on Thursday. Adm. Alvin Holsey announced that he is leaving his role as the head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America, on December 12.
Following the announcement, Holsey claimed that he would retire from the Navy. However, both a current and a former U.S. official told The New York Times that Holsey had raised concerns about the U.S.’s operations in the Caribbean, and two officials told CNN that “tensions had been simmering” between Holsey and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for weeks in the lead-up to the decision. Holsey’s departure from what was supposed to be a three-year post after less than a year is highly unusual.
“At a moment when U.S. forces are building up across the Caribbean and tensions with Venezuela are at a boiling point, the departure of our top military commander in the region sends an alarming signal of instability within the chain of command,” said Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat.
The strike and circumstances surrounding it potentially show that the administration is carrying out a wider campaign of aggression in the region than it is disclosing.
CNN reported this week that one of the strikes in September targeted Colombian nationals, despite administration officials typically only referring to attacks on Venezuelans in public statements. The administration has reportedly authorized a wide-ranging assault on gangs in the region that is far larger than what has been publicly disclosed.
Further, media reports say that Trump has authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations within Venezuela and around the Caribbean.
Some information may also be obscured because the Pentagon effectively barred most of its dedicated press corps this week from covering the country’s largest federal agency.
The Department of Defense unilaterally imposed new, restrictive rules that sought, seemingly, to exercise control over journalists’ coverage and threatened expulsion. Rather than comply, dozens of journalists turned in their badges and left.
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