Alarming Signs of Trump’s Naval Attacks Emerge on a Colombian Peninsula
A deafening blast echoed through the still afternoon air. Moments later, smoke began to billow from the ocean as if the horizon itself were ablaze. On November 6, Erika Palacio Fernández, observing from the shore, quickly took out her phone, capturing the only confirmed independent video to date of the consequences of an airstrike during the Trump administration’s operations against what it terms “narco-terrorists.” Just two days afterward, a burned 30-foot vessel washed ashore. Following that, two disfigured bodies were discovered, along with charred jerrycans, life jackets, and numerous packets that The New York Times noted were reminiscent of others found in the wake of anti-narcotics missions in the vicinity. Most packets were devoid of contents, though remnants of a substance resembling marijuana were detected in the lining of a few.
This collection of charred debris appears to be the first concrete evidence of the U.S. initiative, which has taken out 29 boats and resulted in over 100 casualties across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. All other targeted vessels are believed to have sunk along with their crews and cargo. The U.S. military has not provided any proof that the boats it has targeted were carrying illegal goods or were linked to criminal organizations. An analysis by The Times connected the wreckage of the boat to one captured in a video released by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the evening of November 6, just hours after Ms. Palacio filmed her footage. Mr. Hegseth stated that the strike was directed at a vessel in the Caribbean operated by an unnamed “designated terrorist organization.” He claimed the strike resulted in three fatalities and occurred in international waters.
The Times’ examination of Ms. Palacio’s footage reveals that the strike transpired in the Gulf of Venezuela, an area marked by long-standing maritime disputes between Colombia and Venezuela. However, the precise coordinates of the strike could not be confirmed. The wreck’s form, a slender design typical of speedboats, aligns with that of the vessel documented in the Pentagon video. The analysis indicates damage to the boat’s hull and internal structure consistent with the effects of an airstrike. The military footage captures the boat erupting into flames beneath a large cloud of smoke.
The emergence of such rare, concrete evidence almost two months post the early November attack highlights both the remoteness of the Guajira Peninsula, where the wreckage surfaced, and the limited presence of Colombian governmental authority in the region. The area is semi-autonomously governed by the Wayuu Indigenous community, whose population exceeds half a million and spans the border between Colombia and Venezuela.
Since November, the U.S. military’s efforts against vessels that the Trump administration asserts are engaged in drug trafficking have largely transitioned to the Pacific. The strike on November 6 off the Guajira Peninsula marked an earlier stage of the operation, which appeared to target Venezuelan rather than Colombian ships.
A broad spectrum of legal scholars asserts that the U.S. strikes are unlawful as the military is barred from intentionally targeting civilians, even if they are suspected of illegal activities, unless an immediate threat is present. Venezuela contributes less to the international drug trade compared to other regional countries. In private, officials from the Trump administration have indicated that their primary objective is to oust Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.
The arid Guajira Peninsula represents the northernmost stretch of land in South America and has long been recognized as a departure point for smugglers dealing in various contraband—ranging from coffee to electronics to illegal drugs. Accessing it over land necessitates navigating through a maze of unmarked rutted dirt paths, making travel without a local guide practically impossible. Vultures circle overhead while rattlesnakes conceal themselves in the brush.
On November 8, fishermen discovered the speedboat’s wreckage and the two bodies and alerted Aristótele Palmar García, a Wayuu police inspector responsible for that beach area. Mr. Palmar noted that he had minimal training and tools and had only medical gloves due to a sister who worked at a local clinic. “The boat itself had an odor akin to burnt flesh,” recalled Mr. Palmar, 31. “As for the bodies — we had to inter them because vultures and stray dogs were beginning to consume them.” He mentioned contacting regional police, but “nothing occurred for days, or even weeks.”
One body had decayed to mere skin and bones, Mr. Palmar recounted. He described the other as swollen, sun-bleached, and heavily burned, lacking ears and with one arm severed at the elbow. He and local fishermen used sticks to maneuver the remains into five-foot-deep graves they had excavated on the shore. According to Wayuu customs, they poured chirrinchi, a local liquor made from cane, over the graves, followed by thorny cactus to deter dogs from digging.
Erika Patricia Vargas Sánchez, the regional director of Medicina Legal, Colombia’s government-operated network of forensic labs, informed The Times that two bodies had been exhumed from the same location mentioned by Mr. Palmar and were transferred to Medicina Legal’s care in Barranquilla on December 16 and 17, five weeks after having washed up. She noted that no autopsy had been conducted on either body.
The plastic packets that appeared in Castilletes, a coastal community a few miles south of the wreckage, left local residents puzzled. Most of those examined by Times reporters who visited the region had been partially charred or melted, mostly empty except for sand. They were reinforced with packing tape, and their labels had mostly faded. Several packets contained traces of marijuana within their lining, including one that had been lodged inside a burned life jacket. An anonymous official with Colombia’s anti-narcotics police in Bogotá said she and her colleagues in La Guajira had no knowledge of the packets.
Local drug trade experts indicated it was not uncommon to smuggle marijuana alongside cocaine on the Guajira Peninsula and in other regions along Colombia’s coast. Transporting both drugs often suggested that smugglers were operating on a smaller scale rather than as part of major cartels. Reports indicate at least half a dozen boat interdictions conducted by Colombian authorities over the past year have uncovered both types of drugs. “The cocaine and marijuana market in La Guajira is as much managed by small community-based operations as it is by armed groups,” stated Estefanía Ciro, head of a Colombian research institute that investigates narcotics trafficking. “The narrative of cartels, like that of Pablo Escobar, obscures the reality for many places where this is an everyday occurrence. One day they transport marijuana, another cocaine, and on yet another day, fish.”
Despite this, the majority of people in La Guajira are not involved in the drug trade; instead, they engage in fishing and herding livestock for their livelihoods. Mexi Misael Rincón, a fisherman, operates a boat strikingly similar to the one hit on November 6, which was docked mere yards from the wreckage on the beach. In the wake of the attack, he has only ventured into shallow waters, where he traps lobster.
Mr. Rincón’s mother, Carmelena González, 76, mentioned that since the boat strike, four of her other sons, who also fish, have departed Guajira in search of alternative means of income. This is partly because the fish necessary for their livelihood are now located further out. “Typically, we’d go out eight, ten, or twelve miles for the tuna that brings a better price,” said Vicente Fernández, another local fisherman and Ms. Palacio’s uncle, who recorded the aftermath of the strike. “We’ve left our nets out there for weeks because we’re too scared to get them.”
Mr. Fernández pointed out that the local seafood market prices have plummeted, as residents, due to superstitions, are hesitant to consume any animal they fear may have fed on human flesh. Likewise, he expressed that he won’t risk sailing farther than a few miles from shore. He mentioned that in the weeks following the November strike, he has occasionally observed drones circling above his boat. “They resemble little airplanes,” he said, using a colloquial term for small aircraft. “They seem to be scouting for prey.”
Published: 2025-12-29 19:07:00
source: www.nytimes.com
