this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
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Interior minister says ‘murder has been committed’ amid rising tensions over US military strike on boat in Caribbean

None of the 11 people killed in a US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean last week were members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s interior minister has said, as the South American country deployed troops amid heightened tensions with the US.

The administration of Donald Trump has said the boat was transporting illegal narcotics, but has provided scant further information about the incident, even amid demands from members of the US Congress for a justification for the action.

“They openly confessed to killing 11 people,” the interior minister and ruling party head, Diosdado Cabello, said on state television. “We have done our investigations here in our country and there are the families of the disappeared people who want their relatives, and when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers.

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[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 199 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Even if they WERE gang members, civilized nations do not shoot civilians.

They could have boarded the ship and detained them, but they chose violence.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 93 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They even admitted they could've interdicted the boat, but chose to kill them instead.

It was 100% absolutely, unquestionably a war crime.

And even if Trump is immune, the rest of those involved are NOT. Some of them are lawyering up, because war crimes can carry a death penalty.

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Is it still a war crime without a war? I'm not trying to split hairs or justify the crime, just wondering about definitions. A quick search didn't really clarify it. Violation of international law, absolutely. And who would prosecute? I don't think the US has allowed itself to be subjugated to any international court.

[–] krakenfury@lemmy.sdf.org 15 points 1 week ago

You're correct, the ICC's jurisdiction has never been recognized by the US, or a bunch of other countries for that matter. They could still prosecute individuals and convict them, but the US wouldn't hand them over, and it's not likely that anyone would attempt to come get them.

There is a pretty large number of ICC fugatives from all over the world, notably Russian and Israeli officials. Afaik, France and the UK are the only two UN members with veto power that recognize the ICC's official jurisdiction.

[–] DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It technically may not even be a breach of international law, since the US is one of the few countries that did not ratify UNCLOS, the law that would apply in international waters. The US was evil for a long time and refused to sign anything that would hold them even symbolically accountable. This did not start with Trump. He just went mask off.

[–] icelimit@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Would this mean that the reverse is also true? Any 'war crimes' done on Americans aren't war crimes because they themselves don't recognise it?

We just need a bigger stick?

[–] DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I would love to know as well, so I am slowly reading the UNCLOS treaty as I have time. We have no obligation towards US to not sink their ships, but we may have given promises to other parties of UNCLOS not to attack any ships, even those that did not sign.

It's like if your promise your wife you will be nice to your mother in law. You did not promise anything to your mother in law and she promised nothing to you, but you are still obligated to be nice to her unless your wife agrees to cancel the promise.

So I don't know if UNCLOS only deals with not sinking member ships or all ships.

Also, touching US ships is historically very dumb thing to do.

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Only one soldier ever faced consequences for the My Lai massacre and he only got three and a half years of house arrest, so it’s not like we care that much about war crimes anyway.

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[–] yesman@lemmy.world 54 points 1 week ago (4 children)

The only person in Washington talking sense about this is... Wait, let me double check. Uh, yea it's Rand Paul.

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 14 points 1 week ago

You know things are bad when the voice of reason is Rand Paul

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago

That Rand Paul is the voice of reason bodes very very badly.

[–] frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io 44 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I know they're probably full of shit like any corrupt politicians, but it's nice to have them fight back. Even if they were convicted gang members, the US murdered all of them. I hope they spend the next few years fucking with this administration as much as possible. We need to get back to that place where locals fling shoes at our politicians, because we suck and need to back the fuck off.

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[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 36 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The thing with blowing them up instead of taking them into custody, is that there is no evidence to prove the allegations against them. They blew it up. If they really wanted to justify their actions, this was not the way.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We know they probably weren't just speedboat enthusiasts but blowing the boat up sets a precedent for extrajudicial killing without first establishing guilt.

Of course, this had nothing to do with justice, it was only about sending a very visual message to the other cartels that only US backed cartels are allowed.

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago

Given that Venezuela has chronic shortages of almost everything, these days...it's entirely possible they were smugglers. But they could have been smuggling anything from mail-order packages, to cash, or even medicine. We'll never know now.

[–] commander@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

This will just motivate Venezuela to hurry around their military modernization effort possibly with a lot more public support than before

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[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I don't trust Trump about this, but I trust Venezuela about as much as I trust Trump.

[–] forrgott@lemmy.zip 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Eh, Trump is absolute bottom of my list. Even if it's by a barely measurable amount, I trust everyone more than Trump. No exceptions.

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just because you haven't heard as much from Nicolas Maduro. Maduro's (lack of) connection to reality is similar to Trump's. In a slightly different world they would be best buddies.

[–] forrgott@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

No

I meant what I said, to and frankly can do without the insulting tone.

[–] Sumocat@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

All else being equal, the guy who destroys all the evidence is less trustworthy.

[–] Willy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago

have you heard why there were 11 drug dealers together on a small boat and where they were supposed to be going?

[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers

Both sides provided "trust me, bro" as their proof.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ok but the usa is the one who attacked so they are the one who has to provide evident. Venezuela doesn't have to prove anything

[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Even if they were gang members smuggling drugs, that's still not how the law is dealt in the civilized world. They're still civilians and it's still murder.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Agree i only debated that part of your previous comment Both sides provided "trust me, bro" as their proof.

There is only one side who should provide proofs with is the USA

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

You've been trained well.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I mean obviously Trump and his goons are full of shit but so is Maduro. Is the any actual information about who these murder victims were and what they were doing? Just curious…

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Doesn't matter. It's a war crime either way.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Like I said I’m just curious. Although there is no war so I think mass murder is maybe a more appropriate term?

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It is a war crime as defined by the International Court. You don't have to be in a formal war to commit a war crime.

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Doesn't matter if it's a war crime if there's no way to prosecute anyone.

[–] zrst@lemmy.cif.su 0 points 1 week ago

Yeah, but it makes the poster feel good about himself.

[–] zrst@lemmy.cif.su -5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

It does matter, actually.

First off, war crimes don't matter. Saying something is a "war crime" is akin to saying "and they got away with it." Just look at Ukraine and Israel.

Second, if these people were gangbangers, they deserved what they got.

Gangbangers are the dredge of human society and anyone who defends them is a child who should not be taken seriously.

[–] SpookyLights@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

Anyone who says "gangbanger" unironically is a child who should not be taken seriously. Anyone who defends unlawful murder of civilians is a child who shouldn't be taken seriously. Anyone who says that war crimes "don't matter" is a child who shouldn't be taken seriously.

[–] icelimit@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago

Regardless of whether they deserved it, they are afforded all rights that we also are. In this case, lawful arrests and representation.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

So let's support the murder of all usa politicians reponsible for the genocide in gaza. This is how dumb your logic is

[–] crystalmerchant@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

....and the right says "well it was the liberals' fault so can you blame us??"

[–] FuckFascism@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Big fucking surprise.