U.S. boat strikes spread fear across the Caribbean

"In Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean island nation so close to Venezuela that on a clear day it's visible, the second homes off the northwestern coast lie empty. Fishers are staying close to the shore, and some have stopped working at night. As U.S. forces launch lethal attacks on boats the Trump administration alleges are carrying illegal drugs to the United States, and the Pentagon masses fighter jets, warships and troops off the coast of Venezuela, the waters on which Trinidadians have long relied for their food, livelihoods, and leisure no longer feel safe."

"Jarrod, a fisherman in the northwestern peninsula of Chaguaramas, said bookings for the croaker, King mackerel and mahi-mahi fishing charters he operates have been down since the strikes began in early September. He spoke on the condition his last name be withheld for fear of retaliation. "The general populace is a bit hesitant to go knowing that boats are being struck down," he said. "They're apprehensive.""

""We are facing ... an extremely dangerous and untenable situation in the southern Caribbean," Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said Saturday. "Peace is critical to all that we do in this region, and now, that peace is being threatened.""

"The U.S. military has blown up more than a dozen boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific since early September, killing at least 61 people."

U.S. forces have launched lethal strikes and massed jets, ships and troops near Venezuela to disrupt alleged drug-smuggling networks. The operations have included blowing up more than a dozen boats, killing at least 61 people, and have made Caribbean waters feel unsafe. Fisherfolk in Trinidad and Tobago report reduced charter bookings and altered fishing practices, including avoiding night work. Regional leaders express alarm and warn of a dangerous, untenable situation and threats to peace. Longstanding concerns about U.S. interventionism and divisions over narcotrafficking responses have intensified amid limited regional capacity to stop the operations.

Read at The Washington Post