"privateers, authorized by government-issued letters of marque to ply the trade of piracy in service of their country by targeting enemy ships. These modern day privateers, under a bill introduced Thursday by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), would receive authorization from U.S. President Donald Trump as private individuals to seize foreign vessels from anyone who "is a member of a cartel, a member of a cartel-linked organization, or a conspirator associated with a cartel or a cartel-linked organization.""
""Cartels have replaced corsairs in the modern era, but we can still give private American citizens and their businesses a stake in the fight against these murderous foreign criminals," Lee, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement announcing the bill. "The Cartel Marque and Reprisal Reauthorization Act will revive this historic practice to defend our shores and seize cartel assets.""
As tensions rise with Venezuela, U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill to revive government-authorized privateers to target foreign vessels linked to cartels. The measure would empower the president to issue letters of marque allowing private individuals and businesses to seize vessels belonging to cartel members or affiliates. Senator Mike Lee framed cartels as modern corsairs and said the bill would defend shores and seize cartel assets. Since September, U.S. forces struck at least 26 suspected drug-smuggling boats, killing at least 99 people, with the administration describing an armed conflict with cartels. The U.S. has deployed warships, surveillance craft, aircraft, and thousands of soldiers to the Caribbean.
Read at The Washington Post
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