Eight More Killed in US Strikes
Dec. 16, 2025
The US military carried out three new deadly strikes on alleged drug smuggling vessels, killing eight people in the eastern Pacific, reports the Guardian.
The military said the eight killed yesterday were all male and included three people each in two of the boats and two in the remaining boat. The three strikes brought the number of attacks on boats to 25. It was one of the deadliest days of the military campaign, reports the New York Times.
The Washington Post maps out the strikes thus far.
More Donroe Doctrine
While Trump and aides have insisted their military operations around Venezuela and the pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro are aimed at protecting the U.S. from illicit drugs, “behind the scenes, administration officials have also focused intently on Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world,” reports the New York Times. “Their importance is evident in secret negotiations between U.S. officials and Mr. Maduro about oil, and in conversations that Mr. Trump’s aides and allies have had with Ms. Machado and other Venezuelan opposition figures.”
Venezuela accused the government of Trinidad and Tobago of taking part in the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast last week.
Yesterday Trinidad and Tobago’s government announced it would allow the US military access to its airports in the coming weeks following the recent installation of a radar system. The Caribbean nation said the radar was being used to combat local crime and would not serve as a launchpad for attacks on any other country, reports the Guardian.
Trinidad’s prime minister previously has praised ongoing U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, reports the Associated Press.
“Top members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are urging fellow lawmakers in the US House to back a pair of resolutions aimed at preventing … Trump from launching an unauthorized war on Venezuela.” - Common Dreams
Brazilian meat tycoon Joesley Batista – twice jailed for corruption and whose companies have a long record of environmental violations — has become an unexpected international power broker, reports the Guardian. He is credited with convincing Trump to ease tariffs on Brazil, and attempted to convince Maduro to step down after he spoke by phone with Trump.
Colombia
The United States has designated Colombia’s Clan del Golfo crime gang, currently the country’s largest illegal armed group, as a terrorist organization, according to a notice posted to the U.S. Treasury Department’s website today. (Reuters)
The Clan del Golfo group and the government of Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro are currently holding talks in Qatar, part of Petro’s embattled plan to bring peace to the country after six decades of armed conflict. (Reuters)
Venezuela
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate María Corina Machado suffered a vertebra fracture during her secret journey from Venezuela to Norway last week, reports AFP.
Regional
James Bosworth maps out the political-economy left-right trends in Latin America in the wake of Chile’s election in the Latin America Risk Report, noting that “security and organized crime could be their own variable. Security populism has largely helped candidates on the right, while the blame for crime has harmed candidates mostly on the left, but really anyone who takes over and fails to deliver better security.”
Chile
José Antonio Kast’s victory in Chile’s presidential election has been widely praised by leaders of the global right, with congratulations coming from the US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Argentina’s Javier Milei and X’s Elon Musk, reports the Guardian. (See yesterday’s post.)
Mexico
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has to deliver 249 million cubic meters of water to the U.S. before January 31 to comply with the 1944 Water Treaty. This is only a small part of the total shortfall, reports El País.
“Mexico’s largest criminal groups are expanding the sophistication and profitability of their involvement in illicit fuel markets, moving beyond local schemes to cross-border smuggling networks that affect the US energy sector,” reports InSight Crime.
Haiti
Former Haitian President Michel Martelly has been blacklisted by the European Union alongside two once powerful lawmakers and a criminal gang, in relation to their alleged roles in Haiti’s escalating gang violence, reports the Miami Herald.
Regional
French farmers are driving opposition to a massive transatlantic trade deal between five South American nations of the Mercosur bloc and the 27-nation European Union that officials say will likely lead to its delay, reports the Associated Press.
In the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s destruction in Jamaica, experts are calling for the integration of mental health into climate-disaster policy in the Caribbean as studies show that PTSD risks increase after hurricanes and displacement, reports the Guardian.