In interviews in villages on Venezuela's northeastern coast, from which some of the boats departed, residents and relatives said the dead men had been running drugs but were not narco-terrorists.
The attack Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration's campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people.
The deployment and the quickening pace of U.S. strikes, including one Friday, raised new speculation about how far the Trump administration may go in operations it says are targeted at drug trafficking.
President Trump says he has authority to carry out the strikes, but international experts are asking if the attacks are truly about countering narcotics or instead toppling Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia says new legislation is needed to prevent the Trump administration's escalating actions against Venezuela from leading to war.
The news of Adm. Alvin Holsey's upcoming retirement comes two days after the U.S. military's fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean against a small boat accused of carrying drugs.
Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.
Dozens of foreign nationals are locked up in Venezuelan prisons, accused of crimes they may not have committed. As the U.S. ramps up pressure on Caracas, families fear for their loved ones stuck there.
The administration's approach to drug cartels relies — at least in part — on a blueprint for military strikes that mirror those waged during the global war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The president is using the wartime power to streamline the deportations of Venezuelans alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The move has attracted legal challenges.
President Trump says the U.S. military has struck a drug-laden vessel in the southern Caribbean after it left Venezuela. The strike comes a week after Washington deployed warships to the region.
Deported under a little-known wartime law, more than 130 Venezuelans were sent from the U.S. to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Now released, several tell NPR they endured beatings, sexual abuse, and near-total isolation.
When the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday the Trump administration could strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans while litigation continues in the lower courts, the move sent shockwaves.
