Trump says US strike on vessel in Caribbean targeted Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang

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00:00The US military has killed 11 people in a strike on a vessel from Venezuela

00:04sent by President Donald Trump to have been carrying illegal narcotics.

00:08Now, it is the first known operation since his administration's recent deployment of warships to the Southern Caribbean.

00:15Trump heralding that action and saying, well, there's more to come.

00:19Earlier, we spoke to our correspondent Fraser Jackson in Washington.

00:21Donald Trump has posted a dramatic video that appears to show US firepower blowing up a boat in the Southern Caribbean.

00:31President Trump says that the vessel was carrying drugs from Venezuela

00:34and that the strike killed 11 members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, or TDA.

00:41Now, the strike comes after the US deployed three guided missile destroyers to international waters near Venezuela last month

00:49after President Trump designated several drug cartels, as well as TDA, foreign terrorist organizations.

00:57Donald Trump has repeatedly said that TDA is operating under the control of Venezuelan President Maduro,

01:03despite no evidence that currently proves that.

01:07The US conducted a large-scale prisoner swap with Venezuela this summer,

01:11but tensions between Washington and Caracas are now rising.

01:15Recently, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said that Maduro's government is, quote,

01:21not the legitimate government of Venezuela.

01:23It is a narco-terror cartel.

01:26Well, Maduro has claimed that the US military built up in the Caribbean is aimed at overthrowing his government

01:32and has deployed troops along his borders.

01:35The White House is downplaying any possibility of the US invading Venezuela,

01:39but says that the president will use any means necessary to tackle drug cartels.

01:45Maduro on Monday told reporters he would constitutionally declare a republic in arms

01:51if his country were attacked by US forces deployed to the Caribbean.

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