US legal opinion shields troops in Latin American strikes from prosecution

The administration of US President Donald Trump has drafted a legal opinion stating that American military personnel involved in recent strikes off the coast of Latin America are immune from prosecution, according to reports from The Washington Post and Reuters.

The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel reportedly provided the White House with the opinion, addressing questions about criminal liability for a series of deadly US military operations targeting boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Since September, the US has carried out at least 19 strikes on vessels it claims were transporting narcotics, killing at least 76 people. The White House has framed the campaign as part of a “non-international armed conflict” against “narcoterrorists” and “unlawful combatants” allegedly linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

However, the administration has not presented evidence that the targeted boats were actually carrying drugs, and critics say the strikes may breach international law.

The designation “unlawful combatant” was first popularised by the administration of former President George W Bush to classify certain detainees outside the protections of the Geneva Conventions, a move widely rejected by human rights groups and legal scholars.

Reports of the new legal opinion have sparked unease among Washington’s allies. CNN reported that the United Kingdom has suspended intelligence sharing on drug trafficking operations with the US, while France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, told reporters at a G7 meeting in Canada that the strikes violate international law.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed both the criticism and the CNN report. Speaking from a US airbase, he said:

“I don’t think that the European Union gets to determine what international law is. They certainly don’t get to determine how the United States defends its national security.”

Rubio insisted that US cooperation with allies remained intact.

“Nothing has changed or happened that has impeded in any way our ability to do what we’re doing,” he said.