The president of the National Assembly of Venezuela announced on Sunday that the country’s Congress will form a special commission to investigate the deadly attacks ordered by the administration of the American president, Donald Trump, against vessels suspected of drug trafficking on the Venezuelan coasts and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
In statements to state television, Jorge Rodríguez, who has served as the Venezuelan president’s main negotiator Nicolas Maduro In talks with Washington, he indicated that the investigation will be based on a Washington Post article published on Friday that claims that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of all people aboard one of the vessels during an attack in September. A second attack was subsequently carried out in which two survivors were killed, according to the article.
“Tomorrow (Monday) we are going to bring to the National Assembly the proposal to form a special commission to thoroughly investigate what was contained in those Washington Post articles,” Rodríguez said during a press conference, adding that the country’s prosecutor’s office will participate.
USA has been waging a campaign of deadly attacks against suspected drug trafficking vessels in the region for months. Maduro and his government have denied any involvement in the crime and have accused the United States of seeking regime change with the goal of controlling Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
On Saturday, Trump declared that the airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered “entirely closed,” but did not provide further details. The Venezuelan government called his comments a “colonialist threat” against its sovereignty.
