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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Gang members aren’t civilians.
It’s always open season on them.
I see.
Counterpoint… THEY WEREN’T FUCKING GANG MEMBERS THOUGH.Even if they WERE gang members
Learn to read.
By whose definition? Gang members ARE civilians, (assuming they’re not actively shooting at things). Just because they’re damaging to society does not change that definition.
Even civilians who are actively shooting are still civilians. What are you all smoking?
Sure, but obviously an active shooter changes the situation in a way that authorizes deadly force.
The only person in Washington talking sense about this is… Wait, let me double check. Uh, yea it’s Rand Paul.
That Rand Paul is the voice of reason bodes very very badly.
You know things are bad when the voice of reason is Rand Paul
His dad Ron was the same. Huge racist asshole, AND, horrifically often the lone voice of common sense when the bipartisan consensus passed shitty unconstitutional legislation.
No he wasn’t. Ron and Rand are both pseudo-intellectuals that libertarians love because they distract from how the working class is being robbed daily by their rulers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I hope they spend the next few years fucking with this administration as much as possible.
Are you talking about Venezuela, the failed nation that’s so poor that playing Runescape for Americans is a legitimate career option?
I’d say they have bigger problems to deal with than “causing trouble for the US.”
This will just motivate Venezuela to hurry around their military modernization effort possibly with a lot more public support than before
Dude, they are paid by us to grind in Runescape because they’re so poor and the job market sucks.
Wasting money on their military is not going to help them.
They will get closer to china, russia and pro china and pro russia sfricsn countries relation even more
I don’t trust Trump about this, but I trust Venezuela about as much as I trust Trump.
have you heard why there were 11 drug dealers together on a small boat and where they were supposed to be going?
All else being equal, the guy who destroys all the evidence is less trustworthy.
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.
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.
No
I meant what I said, to and frankly can do without the insulting tone.
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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.
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
You’ve been trained well.
…and the right says “well it was the liberals’ fault so can you blame us??”
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…
Doesn’t matter. It’s a war crime either way.
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.
So let’s support the murder of all usa politicians reponsible for the genocide in gaza. This is how dumb your logic is
Regardless of whether they deserved it, they are afforded all rights that we also are. In this case, lawful arrests and representation.
Like I said I’m just curious. Although there is no war so I think mass murder is maybe a more appropriate term?
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.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a war crime if there’s no way to prosecute anyone.
Yeah, but it makes the poster feel good about himself.
Big fucking surprise.
