Attack. Venezuela accuses the US of extrajudicial execution

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello accused the United States of committing extrajudicial executions by attacking a boat in the Caribbean that Washington said was transporting drugs from Venezuela.

"They murdered 11 people without going to court. I ask if that's acceptable," Cabello said Wednesday on his television program "Con el Mazo Dando" ('Hitting with the Hammer').

US forces fired on a drug-carrying boat that had just left Venezuela and was in the Caribbean on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced shortly after the operation.

The attack, allegedly against drug traffickers from the 'Tren de Aragua' cartel, resulted in the death of 11 people.

“No suspicion of drug trafficking justifies extrajudicial executions at sea,” denounced Cabello, considered the second most important leader in Venezuela’s leadership.

"It's not clear, they didn't explain anything, they pompously announce that they murdered 11 people . It's very delicate. And what about the right to defense?" the minister insisted.

Hours earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Washington will carry out more military operations against drug cartels.

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This “is a clear signal to the 'Tren de Aragua', the 'Cartel of the Suns' and others from Venezuela, that we will not allow this type of activity,” Hegseth stressed.

In late July, the United States designated the Cartel of the Suns, a group Washington alleges is linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as a terrorist organization.

Maduro “was not elected and the United States has a $50 million bounty on him,” said Pete Hegseth.

Also on Wednesday, Peru's Parliament approved a motion declaring the Cartel of the Suns a terrorist organization, claiming it poses an external threat to the South American nation.

Similar to what the United States maintains, the Peruvian Congress declared in a statement that the Cartel of the Suns is a “criminal organization directly linked to the Nicolás Maduro regime ” and that “has proven links to drug trafficking and international terrorism.”

Hours earlier, Maduro accused the Trump administration of wanting “free Venezuelan oil” and said that “imperialism attacked (…) inventing a story that no one believes.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern on Wednesday about the growing hostility between Venezuela and the United States.

"It is important that tensions are reduced and a peaceful solution to the differences is found, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter," said Portuguese spokesman Stéphane Dujarric during a press conference.