Ask Onix
Family of missing fisherman seeks truth after US strike off Venezuela
Lizbeth Perez stares across the tranquil waters of Taganga Bay on Colombia's Caribbean coast, her voice trembling as she recalls the last conversation with her uncle, Alejandro Carranza. A devoted father of five and lifelong fisherman, Carranza vanished on 14 September after setting out from La Guajira, Venezuela-just hours before a US airstrike targeted a vessel in the area, killing three men Washington labeled "narco-terrorists."
The 45-year-old's family has received no official confirmation of his fate. "We don't know if it was him," Perez said, her uncertainty compounded by grainy US military footage that relatives claim shows Carranza's boat. "The only 'proof' is what we saw on the news."
US escalates strikes amid legal and diplomatic backlash
Since September, the Trump administration has conducted at least 21 strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing 83 people in what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calls a campaign to "remove narco-terrorists from our hemisphere." The White House frames the operations as self-defense, citing a rise in cocaine seizures and fentanyl deaths-though the latter primarily originates in Mexico, not South America.
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has condemned the strikes as "murder," alleging Carranza was among the victims and accusing the US of extrajudicial killings. In response, the White House demanded Petro retract his "baseless" claims, while Trump threatened to cut aid to Bogotá over alleged drug-production ties. Petro has since suspended intelligence-sharing with Washington until the strikes cease.
"Whether it was fish or cocaine [he transported], he wasn't subject to the death penalty," Petro told reporters earlier this month, referencing Carranza's reported agreement to carry drugs for a one-time payment to fund his daughter's education.
President Gustavo Petro, 12 November 2025
Legal challenges and a fisherman's disputed past
Carranza's family denies US allegations of narco-trafficking, though court records show a 2016 conviction for stealing police weapons. His cousin, Audenis Manjarres, described him to state media as a "cheerful" provider who "loved his work." Daniel Kovalik, a US lawyer representing the family-and also advising Petro-plans to sue Washington, arguing the strikes violate international law.
"These boats have never attacked the United States," Kovalik said. "If authorities suspected wrongdoing, they should have arrested and tried these men-not executed them at sea."
Daniel Kovalik, family attorney, 20 November 2025
The Trump administration counters that it is engaged in a "non-international armed conflict" with cartels, invoking wartime powers to justify lethal force. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has framed drug flows as a "terrorist threat," though critics note fentanyl-responsible for most US overdose deaths-comes via Mexico, not Colombian fishing vessels.
Fishermen caught in crossfire as drones patrol Caribbean waters
In Taganga, a fishing village of 20,000 where Carranza's extended family shares a dirt-road home, the strikes have sown terror. Juan Assis Tejeda, 81, a third-generation fisherman, described drones "hovering silently" near his boat during routine 60-mile tuna expeditions near the Venezuelan border. "At any moment, they could mistake us for traffickers," he said, his leathery hands gripping a net. "We're just trying to live peacefully."
Poverty drives some locals to accept traffickers' offers, Tejeda admitted, but he refused: "I'd rather earn little than risk everything." Others suspect the strikes target not just drugs but Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US accuses of leading the "Cartel de los Soles" trafficking network-a claim Maduro denies. The State Department plans to designate the group a foreign terrorist organization on 25 November.
Diplomacy or escalation? Region braces for US next move
As tensions rise, Trump hinted at "discussions" with Maduro, who responded with an offer of face-to-face talks. Yet in Taganga, where children play on the same shores where Carranza's boat once docked, the focus remains on the human cost. "The US president talks about protecting his territory," Perez said, "but that doesn't give him the right to take lives-especially without proof."
The DEA reports cocaine seizures rose 18% in 2024, but analysts question whether lethal strikes will stem supply. Meanwhile, Colombia's suspension of intelligence-sharing could hinder joint operations, even as Petro's defense minister insists "a continuous flow" of data persists with international partners.
