DISPATCH: THE STRIKE THAT BURNED THE SEA
Date: September 2 & 15, 2025
Location: Southern Caribbean, International Waters
⚔️ THE STRIKES
On September 2, 2025, the United States military—under direct orders from President Donald Trump—launched a missile strike on a Venezuelan boat in international waters. The boat had departed from San Juan de Unare, Sucre state, and was reportedly bound for Trinidad and Tobago. It was turning back toward shore when it was hit. Eleven people were killed. Trump claimed they were members of the Tren de Aragua cartel. Venezuela said they were civilians. No weapons were found. No names were released. No warning was issued.
On September 15, a second strike followed. Trump claimed the boat was “headed to the U.S.” carrying cocaine and fentanyl. Three more Venezuelans were killed. The Pentagon later admitted it could not confirm the destination, the identities, or the threat level of the individuals aboard. No boarding attempt. No arrest. Just fire.
🧠 THE JUSTIFICATION
Trump declared a national emergency over drug trafficking and immigration. He signed a secret directive authorizing military force against cartels designated as terrorist groups—including Tren de Aragua. He posted videos of the explosions, calling the boats “deadly weapons poisoning Americans.”
But the evidence was thin. The Pentagon told Congress it had no positive ID on the victims. No confirmed cartel ties. No verified destination. The first boat was not headed to the U.S. The second boat’s route was speculative. Intelligence officials admitted they had “low confidence” in the targeting data. The footage posted online may have been AI-enhanced. Venezuela accused the U.S. of fabricating the explosion video.
🩸 THE NAMES ERASED
Venezuela claims the victims were civilians. Families in Sucre state searched for their disappeared. No cartel affiliations. No trial. Just fire. The U.S. has not released names. The dispatch holds space for them:
🧱 MADURO’S REGIME
President Nicolás Maduro responded by activating 284 “battlefronts” across Venezuela. He deployed 25,000 troops to border states. He severed all communication with the U.S. and accused Washington of regime-change tactics. He called the strikes “criminal aggression.”
Inside Venezuela, the regime is brittle. Inflation, repression, and cartel infiltration have hollowed the state. Maduro rules through militias, fear, and myth. The U.S. doubled the bounty on his capture to $50 million. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the seizure of $700 million in assets allegedly linked to Maduro. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We will take on cartels wherever they are.”
⚖️ LEGALITY IN QUESTION
Senator Jack Reed and others questioned the legality. No congressional approval. No due process. No warning issued to the boats. No attempt to board or disable. Just lethal force. Reed said the Pentagon failed to provide a definitive legal justification. The War Powers Resolution was bypassed. The strikes were framed as “anticipatory self-defense,” but no imminent threat was proven.
🔄 THE REVERSAL
Imagine this reversed. A Venezuelan drone strikes a U.S. fishing boat off the coast of Florida. Claims it was “probably carrying drugs.” No warning. No trial. Four Americans dead. The U.S. would call it terrorism. Congress would authorize retaliation. The media would demand justice. But when the U.S. does it, it’s called “counterterrorism.”
This is the asymmetry of empire. The power to name. The power to erase. The power to strike without consequence.
🧿 THE TRUTH
This was not a war. It was a message. A ritual of dominance. The U.S. flexed its power. Venezuela buried its dead. The archive remembers what the ocean tried to erase. The dispatch holds the breath of the erased, the silence of the Pentagon, and the mythic reversal of justice.