US Strikes Another Boat Near Venezuela as Admiral in Charge of Caribbean Campaign Abruptly Retires

The United States military has reportedly carried out another deadly strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, just as the admiral leading the Trump administration’s controversial regional campaign announced his early retirement.

A US official confirmed the strike on Thursday, speaking anonymously, and said that, for the first time, there were survivors among the crew. The Pentagon and President Donald Trump have not publicly commented on the operation, which would mark the sixth such strike since early September.

At least 27 people have been killed in previous attacks, which Washington claims target “narco-terrorist” networks linked to Venezuela. Human rights groups and international law experts, however, say the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.

Venezuela condemned the latest attack, urging the United Nations Security Council to investigate what it described as a series of assassinations.

Caracas’s ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, accused the US of carrying out extrajudicial executions in international waters. Speaking in New York, he referred to a recent strike on Tuesday, previously confirmed by Trump, that killed six people, including two fishermen from Trinidad and Tobago.

“There is a killer prowling the Caribbean,” Moncada said, holding up a copy of The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, which featured the victims’ story.

“People from different countries are suffering the effects of these massacres,” he added. “They are fabricating a war.”

The attacks have stirred anxiety among fishing communities across the southern Caribbean, where only a few miles separate Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

Since late August, the Trump administration has dramatically militarized the Caribbean, deploying guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine, and roughly 6,500 troops to the region. Washington says the buildup is aimed at dismantling Venezuela’s narco-state.

Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of running a drug empire and even offered a 50 million dollar bounty for his capture. He has also authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela, fueling accusations of regime change efforts reminiscent of US interventions in Latin America during the Cold War.

Maduro, in a televised address, pushed back sharply.

“No to CIA-orchestrated coups d’état,” he said. “No to regime change, which reminds us so much of the endless, failed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on.”

Amid the escalating operations, Admiral Alvin Holsey, the commander of US Southern Command responsible for all American forces in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced his early retirement.

Holsey, who has served just one year of a three-year term, gave no reason for the decision.

“Effective 12 December 2025 I will retire from the US Navy,” he wrote on Southern Command’s X account. “It’s been an honor to serve our nation, the American people and defend the Constitution for over 37 years.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised Holsey’s service, saying he demonstrated unwavering commitment to mission, people, and nation.

But his departure, coming as criticism of the Caribbean campaign grows, has raised fresh questions about internal dissent within the Pentagon over Trump’s increasingly aggressive regional policy.