The Latin American Report # 636
The U.S. Department of War reported a new lethal attack against vessels transporting drugs in the Eastern Pacific. Washington is taking "justice" into its own hands, assuming the role of regional police, with "jurisdiction" or "responsibility" over the waters of the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, where the attacks began. Many experts, activists and politicians, even within the Republican caucus in the Capitol, question the White House’s strategy of summarily executing and, in practice, denying the right to a trial to those who have been the victims of the attacks, who, moreover, have tended to be the lower-rank actors in the long chain of command of drug trafficking.
So far, the U.S. attacks publicly acknowledged amount to 19, with at least 75 people murdered. Outside the somehow murky videos shared by Pete Hegseth on X, we don't have public information about the volumes of drugs the vessels attacked were carrying, the identity of the victims, and their concrete links to gangs like the Tren de Aragua. Some argue that behind all this is the Trump administration’s interest in carrying out targeted actions to remove Nicolás Maduro from the Miraflores Palace, not necessarily for a political motive but aimed at the South American nation’s natural resources.
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 10, 2025
These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and… pic.twitter.com/ocUoGzwwDO
Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities updated to 32 the number of inmates killed yesterday, Sunday, in the prison of Machala, the capital of the coastal province of El Oro. In a scandal that should cause an earthquake at the Carondelet Palace, we first learned of four inmates dead in a dawn riot, and later of 27 who were found hanged in their cells. In that sense, I do not quite understand what prison authorities mean when they say that "they asphyxiated each other," because that sometimes leads me to understand that in those 27 hanged people we have all the picture: the victims and perpetrators.
According to what has emerged, the events in Machala could be related to the transfer of prisoners to a maximum-security prison in the province of Santa Elena, which has not yet been officially inaugurated. As part of the measures associated with the declaration of an "internal armed conflict" against the gangs, the prison system was intervened by the Armed Forces back in the early 2024, but in last August control of some prisons, including Machala, was handed over to the police.
SourceIn the broad picture, the problem of violence is there to stay. In Guayaquil, probably the locality most affected by it, a massacre took the lives of three people who were celebrating a party outside a house the past Saturday. Meanwhile, two people were shot in broad daylight the same day on a beach in Santa Elena. Finally, in Manta, province of Manabí, four people were murdered last night, Sunday, as they were leaving a sporting event. The coast remains stained red in Ecuador.
Cuba
An updated United Nations assessment of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in the eastern region of the country indicates that more than 90,000 homes and 100,000 hectares of crops suffered negative impacts, an estimate higher than the last official figure shared by the Cuban government itself. In addition, 600 health facilities and 2,000 educational centers were also hit to varying degrees of severity.
Twelve days after Melissa's passage, one third of electricity customers remain without power, not forgetting that the Island has chronically suffered prolonged power outages for about four years. Damage to roads and telecommunications infrastructure is also reported, while the total number of people affected amounts to 3.5 million. The United Nations called for more than $74 million to meet the recovery challenges through the so-called Action Plan for Cuba.
Some help 👇
A special aircraft from 🇮🇳 carrying HADR assistance arrived this evening in 🇨🇺 following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa. Guided by the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the world is one family — India stands in solidarity with the people of Cuba, reaffirming bonds of… pic.twitter.com/vGWtfIkKTy
— India in Cuba (@EOIHavana) November 7, 2025
Colombia
A driver who was driving under the influence of alcohol ran over 11 people in the Colombian capital last Saturday, causing two of the four children who were victims of such great irresponsibility to suffer brain death. "We have 72 hours for them to show improvement. If not, they could be disconnected," a relative of the two children diagnosed with brain death told a local media outlet cited by EFE.
This is all for today’s report.
I strongly disagree. In what jurisdiction is the role of police to slaughter accused without trial? There is no legal theory in any polity of which I am aware in which the role of police is to just gun people down if there are claims they have broken the law. The role of police everywhere is to arrest and take into custody the accused, where the courts determine their guilt or innocence, and but few are executed for crimes they are convicted of.
Even El Salvador, which is accused of gross human rights violations for it's horrible mistreatment of it's captives, does not just slaughter them in the street.
Have they? I have seen not one shred of evidence that is so. They are accused, are murdered, and die. No evidence they are guilty is ever provided.
Thanks!
We agree my friend. When I refer to "justice", "jurisdiction", or "responsibility", in that form, I am just pointing to the narrative advanced by the Trump administration, in its terms. I can be more explicit next time in this sense. Best regards from the Island and thanks always for your sound feedback in this space.
As for the second issue you highlighted, about the rank of those killed, I was relying on this AP report. Very interesting.
I can understand relying on the only information that is available, but reliance on the allegations of the killers and their paid mouthpieces in corporate media is ill advised, IMHO. These are not courts, the claims of the reporters not under oath, and entirely consist of hearsay - at best. This is not evidence of crimes sufficient to convict anyone in a court of law, nor is a conviction for smuggling very likely to result in a death sentence were these allegation provable. It may be hard to believe that the American government could just lie and slaughter men for political purposes, but that IS obviously occurring, and no probative evidence supports their narrative. That narrative clearly is being used to create a sense of threat in Americans, so they might support a military invasion of Venezuela so that financial vultures can feast on the oily carcass.
I vehemently oppose that purpose, and the murderous intent behind it. It is a threat to all free men everywhere if men somewhere can just be slaughtered to promote a political narrative. I beseech you to exercise more skepticism regarding these murders, that the rule of law and the sovereignty of humanity remain a standard we hold all men accountable to.
I fully agree. I understand very well that media like AP, always, have some or a lot of bias. What issues they pick? Who they ask about them and how? And so on. Yet in this case, I assessed the claims about the dynamic of life in the Paria Peninsula with some Cuban friends based in Venezuela right now, and it seems the report is somehow a reliable account. And it is true that the government in Caracas can be more proactive and talk about those who are missing to shed light about this juridical nightmare, to put a name to where we only have a number so far.
Were it not for smugglers, America would not exist. Extra judicial killing of them in this case is purely politically motivated. They aren't terrorists, and recreational drugs like cocaine aren't terrorist bombs. The US military isn't a police force, and it's presence on the streets of American cities should be terrifying to all Americans in the light of these killings. This is not policing, even if the men are smugglers. It's murder, for political gain.