America Returns to Gunboat Power in the Caribbean
In the span of two months, U.S. naval forces have turned the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific into a theatre of undeclared war launching at least fifteen lethal strikes on boats alleged to be drug carriers, leaving dozens dead and entire crews vanished at sea. Washington calls it counternarcotics. Caracas, Beijing and much of Latin America call it a return to gunboat power extrajudicial killings in peacetime waters under the flag of law enforcement.