Death Toll Hits 57, Latest US Bombings on Small Boats Strike off Mexico’s Coast
Caracas, October 29, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The US military conducted strikes Monday on four alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Eastern Pacific, killing 14 people.
The total death toll from US bombings of small vessels since September now stands at 57, as Washington faces international backlash for its extrajudicial killings while increasing its military build-up in the Caribbean.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reported the latest strikes Tuesday, stating that eight crew members were aboard the first two vessels, four on the third, and three on the fourth when the strikes occurred.
Hegseth said that Mexico had agreed to coordinate the rescue efforts for a sole survivor. The Mexican Navy said that in compliance with its international obligations, it had attempted a rescue of the civilian in an area 400 miles southwest of Acapulco but offered no further details.
A 28-second clip accompanying the post by Hegseth showed two of the boats appearing motionless together before being struck, while the other two vessels are hit separately as they move through the ocean.
Hegseth claimed that the strikes took place in international waters but offered no verifiable evidence that the crews were trafficking narcotics.
In under two months, the US military has conducted strikes against 13 small boats and one semi-submersible vessel, eight of which were in the Southern Caribbean Sea and six in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. A total of 57 people have been killed, hailing from places such as Venezuela, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago, including three identified as fishermen.
Tuesday’s strike marked the third potential survivor. In the October 16 bombing, survivors Jeison Obando Pérez and Andrés Fernando Tufiño were returned to Colombia and Ecuador, respectively. Obando is still under medical observation for head trauma, and Bogotá has not revealed any grounds for prosecution. Ecuadorian authorities released Tufiño shortly after returning due to insufficient evidence to support legal action.
All strikes occurred without formal interception, capture, and seizure procedures, denying suspects due process and offering no public evidence of illicit activities. Last week, three United Nations (UN) experts stated that the Trump administration is engaging in extrajudicial killings and warned against the use of armed force against Venezuela, describing it as a violation of sovereignty and the UN Charter.
The UN experts’ warnings came amidst an escalation of Washington’s military buildup near Venezuela, with the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford to the US Southern Command’s area of responsibility. The aircraft carrier can carry up to 75 warplanes and helicopters alongside approximately 4,600 troops and conduct strikes over a distance of 1,000 kilometers. It will operate alongside several warships.
In addition, the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely arrived in Port of Spain on Sunday for a five-day program of military exercises and training with local Trinidad forces. Caracas has labeled the proximity of the massive US warship and the military cooperation “a provocation.”
On Monday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil denounced that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was preparing a “false flag” operation that consisted of an attack against a US ship stationed in Trinidad and pinning the blame on Caracas to justify US military aggression against Venezuela.
“A CIA-funded criminal cell linked to this covert operation has been dismantled in our territory,” said Gil.
The Venezuelan government also denounced that a group of alleged mercenaries had been arrested and accused of plotting an incident similar to the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin events, with the complicity of Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
Persad-Bissessar has been a vocal supporter of the US military build-up in the Caribbean and the deadly strikes on alleged drug boats, despite two Trinidadians being among the victims of the October 14 attack that killed six.
President Nicolás Maduro said Monday that his government had dismantled the reported false flag plot and handed over evidence of the operation to the Trinidadian authorities. During his weekly broadcast, the Venezuelan leader also confirmed the suspension of energy cooperation with Trinidad, including joint offshore natural gas projects, as a “precautionary measure.”
Since mid-August, the Trump administration has stationed warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and an estimated 4,500 troops off the coast of Venezuela, while US warplanes have repeatedly entered Venezuela’s airspace. This follows Washington’s accusations that Caracas is involved in drug trafficking. The US has never provided court-tested evidence to support its claims.
US President Donald Trump has admitted to authorizing the CIA to conduct lethal covert operations in Venezuela, exacerbating regime-change alarms, and is reportedly considering attacks on unspecified “cocaine facilities and drug trafficking routes” inside Venezuela.
Edited by Cira Pascual Marquina in Caracas.