Joint Venezuelan-US mission kills head of Tren de Aragua
A symbolic victory for the Trump admin illustrates the willingness of Delcy Rodriguez to submit to demands from Washington DC
The US and Venezuela conducted a joint military operation in Venezuelan territory that killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, better known as “Niño Guerrero”, the leader of Tren de Aragua.
US President Donald Trump announced the killing on Friday afternoon on his social media website Truth Social, accompanied with xenophobic and bigoted statements about migrants, and a video he claimed showed the assasination.
At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth. Before I returned to office, Joe Biden opened our Southern Border to millions of Illegal Criminals, and allowed this foreign army to rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity. During my Campaign, I pledged to expel these monsters from our Country, and bring Justice to the families of those they slaughtered
-US President Donald Trump
Donald Trump has often exaggerated the power of the Tren de Aragua as a rationalization for migration crackdowns, and as a justification for the US attack on Caracas that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Venezuela confirmed the operation shortly afterwards in a statement by the Ministry of Popular Power, saying the mission was “a joint operation between Venezuelan and U.S. security agencies in the southeastern part of Bolívar State.”
“We commend the work of all the officials, security agencies, and institutions that participated in this successful operation,” continued the public statement.
The operation represents a dramatic shift in relations between the Venezuelan and US governments. Since current interim President Delcy Rodriguez was installed by the US, she has taken a submissive attitude to US demands, unlike her predecessor.
Venezuelan security forces also undertook a special operation targeting illegal mining in the Orinoco region of Bolivar State this week ahead of a visit by potential US investors who want to exploit mineral reserves in the region.
Most of the region is currently controlled by non-state armed actors, including Colombian rebel groups. The Venezuelan operation did not target rebel groups, however, rather a Venezuelan prison gang that exerted effective control over the Las Claritas Mine in the south of the country.
Rodriguez seems eager to please Washington DC. But there is a large difference between prison gangs like the Tren de Aragua, and ELN and FARC dissident rebels, who have decades of experience waging asymmetrical warfare against capable military forces and relatively good relations with the Venezuelan government.
Nonetheless, the killing is a symbolic victory for the Trump administration as well as a powerful example of the attitude the new Venezuelan client state is taking towards US policy.
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