US strike kills four as Congress rejects curbs on Venezuela action

The United States military has confirmed that four people were killed in a recent strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, as efforts by US lawmakers to limit President Donald Trump’s military actions against Venezuela were narrowly defeated in Congress.

Al Jazeera reported that the attack, carried out on Wednesday, was announced by US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which described the victims as “four male narco-terrorists”. The command claimed the vessel was operating along a known drug-trafficking route, although it did not provide evidence to support the allegation. A video released alongside the statement showed a speedboat being destroyed during the strike.

The operation forms part of what SOUTHCOM has described as an expanding “Southern Spear” campaign across the Latin America region. Ordered by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, the latest strike brings the acknowledged death toll from US attacks on vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean to nearly 100 since September, according to official figures.

Legal experts have criticised the campaign, accusing Washington of conducting extrajudicial killings in international waters. The Trump administration, however, has defended the strikes as necessary to stem the flow of narcotics into the United States, particularly from cartels allegedly linked to Venezuela.

The military action came as the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted down two resolutions aimed at restricting the president’s authority to deploy forces. One resolution, which sought to require congressional approval before engaging in hostilities with or against Venezuela, was rejected by a narrow margin of 213 to 211.

A second measure, calling for limits on operations against any “presidentially designated terrorist organisation” in the Western Hemisphere without authorisation from Congress, was defeated 216 to 210.

The votes coincided with a major US military build-up in Latin America, involving thousands of troops, the deployment of the country’s largest aircraft carrier and the presence of a nuclear-powered submarine. The escalation follows repeated warnings by Trump that military force could be used to remove the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Earlier this week, Trump ordered a naval blockade on oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuelan ports under US sanctions. Caracas condemned the move as a “grotesque threat”, accusing Washington of seeking to seize the country’s natural resources. US forces also recently boarded and seized the Skipper oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, reportedly escorting it to Texas to unload its cargo.

According to a report by The New York Times, Venezuela’s navy has begun escorting ships carrying petroleum products following the announcement of the blockade, with several vessels leaving ports under naval protection earlier this week.

Concern over the growing confrontation has been voiced by leaders across Latin America, as well as by António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, amid fears that tensions between Washington and Caracas could escalate into a broader conflict.