The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago praised the U.S. attack on a cartel vessel off the coast of Venezuela, saying drug traffickers should be “violently eliminated.”
Kamla Persad-Bissessar said in a statement that the “massacring of our people has been fed by evil cartel traffickers.” She added, “I feel no compassion for them. The U.S. Army should have them all violently eliminated.”
“Illegal drug and arms trafficking has caused death and destruction in our society for the past 25 years,” Persad-Bissessar said. She noted that stopping illegal arms, drugs, and human trafficking will help reduce violence in the country and the region.
She also expressed support for the U.S. military, saying, “God bless and protect the U.S. Army members taking part in the mission. Your efforts will save many lives in our country and the region.”
Persad-Bissessar had previously approved the use of U.S. assets in the region, stating she would allow American forces to use Trinidadian territory if President Nicolás Maduro attacked neighboring Guyana, which is currently in a territorial dispute with Venezuela.
“I want to make it very clear that if the Maduro regime launches any attack against the Guyanese people or invades Guyanese territory and a request is made by the American government for access to Trinidadian territory to defend the people of Guyana, my government will unflinchingly provide them that access,” she said in late August.
Regarding the attack, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that U.S. forces “shot out a drug-carrying boat” coming from Venezuela as part of their deployment of troops and warships. “We just literally shot out a drug-carrying boat. There were a lot of drugs on that boat. There’s more where that came from,” he said, adding that the drugs originated from Venezuela.
Later, he posted on social media that the attack “resulted in 11 terrorists killed” and emphasized, “No U.S. soldiers were hurt. Let this be a warning to anyone even considering sending drugs into the United States. Beware.
