 "This handout photo released by the US Defence Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely in the Red Sea on June 7, 2024. It is one of the warships deployed towards Venezuela for counternarcotics operations. (Photo: DVIDS/AFP)")
In a rejection of US President Donald Trump’s claims that the individuals targeted by the US military in the Caribbean Sea were drug traffickers, Ecuador has released the survivor of a recent strike without charge and said there is no evidence he committed any crime.
An Ecuadorian official on Monday told The Associated Press that the survivor, Andres Fernando Tufino, has been released.
Separately, the AP cited an official document as saying that “there is no evidence or indication that could lead prosecutors or judicial authorities to be certain” of any violation of current laws by Tufino.
Last week, the US military struck a vessel in the Caribbean Sea that was purportedly carrying drugs. Unlike previous strikes, two people on the vessel survived the strike and were detained by the US military. Trump later announced that they will be repatriated to their home countries Colombia and Ecuador .
The Colombian national released by the US military remains hospitalised by press time, according to AP.
At the orders of Trump, the US military has so far struck at least seven vessels in the Caribbean Sea and killed at least 32 people since September. While Trump has dubbed these people as “narco-terrorists” bringing drugs to the United States and claimed he has powers to order their summary killings as if they were enemy soldiers in a war, legal scholars have said the campaign is illegal as the military may only use lethal force if attack or facing an imminent attack.
Second strike targeting Columbian nationals
The strike on Thursday was at least the second strike that targeted Colombian nationals.
Previously, Colombian President Gustavo Petro had said that one of the boats struck by the US military was Colombian and was carrying Colombian nationals.
In another case, a Trinidadian family has said one of its members was likely killed in another US strike.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNotably, even though the US military has struck at least seven boats and killed dozens of people, the Trump administration has not released names of anyone whom they have killed or any evidence of drugs in those vessels.
Irrespective of the criticism, Trump has vowed to continue these strikes that critics see as a thinly veiled campaign against Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Maduro .
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Trump has deployed around 10,000 personnel and several warships, at least one submarine, and fighter planes in the Caribbean Sea around Venezuela. Critics suspect that the build-up and strikes on purportedly drug-carrying vessels is part of efforts to set up a pretext to invade Venezuela and oust Maduro.
As far as the Colombian national released by the US military, the Colombian government said he “will be prosecuted according to the law” for alleged drug trafficking.
After Petro said that US strikes killed Colombian nationals, Trump called him “an illegal drug leader” and “a lunatic”.