Lula condemns US attacks on boats in the Caribbean

United Nations.- The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, condemned this Tuesday at the UN General Assembly the attacks by the United States on boats with civilians in the Caribbean, calling them "extrajudicial executions". Lula stated that the equation of criminality and terrorism is "worrying" after the United States gave that treatment to drug trafficking gangs and bombed at least four vessels allegedly used by those groups in international waters, near Venezuela.

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"Using lethal force in situations that do not constitute armed conflict is equivalent to executing people without trial," Lula said in his speech at the UN. The Brazilian ruler stressed that the "most effective" way to combat drug trafficking is cooperation to repress money laundering and limit the arms trade. Lula stressed the need to keep Latin America and the Caribbean as a "zone of peace" in a context of "growing polarization" and paused to talk about the situation in Cuba and Venezuela. He said it is "unacceptable" that Cuba has been included by the United States on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, an allusion that was greeted with applause by the Assembly.

Regarding Venezuela, the Brazilian leader emphasized that "the path of dialogue should not be closed".

Although Lula has practically frozen his relationship with President Nicolás Maduro since the 2024 Venezuelan elections, the outcome of which in favor of the Chavista leader he has not recognized, he reiterated his criticism of unilateral sanctions against any country. Since last August, under the guise of combating drug trafficking to the United States, Trump has deployed a significant military force in Caribbean waters, near Venezuela, and heightened tensions throughout that area. According to Trump himself, at least three of the four small bombed boats had departed from Venezuela. Those attacks, which Lula said before the UN General Assembly put regional peace at risk, have left about twenty dead, according to information provided by the United States.