But I thought these boats were carrying fishermen and their familes?
/
Off to pick up Juanita and pablo from daycare
Drug Hotspot On Venezuela’s Coast Reeling From Trump’s Strikes
November 28, 2025
A coastal Venezuelan city long dependent on smuggling of drugs and other contraband is facing economic collapse and government surveillance following U.S. strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats.
Residents in Güiria, a port city with a population of around 40,000, say U.S bombings have cut off illicit boat traffic that supported much of its local economy, including drug shipments and trade of contraband, food, and consumer goods with nearby states, Reuters reported Friday. With vessels no longer leaving the coast, Güiria’s shop owners report almost no cash moving through the city.
“There was only movement in stores recently because of government bonus payments; otherwise, there’s no money circulating,” said one local merchant, according to Reuters.
“No boats of any kind are leaving … not migrants, not people buying goods there to sell here, and certainly not those taking Venezuelan products to sell there, which was another way to make money. Everything is practically dead,” the merchant added.
AND:
Trump says boat crews are narco-terrorists. The truth is more nuanced, AP finds
November 8, 202512:46 PM ET
GÜIRIA, Venezuela — One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet. And a fourth was a down-on-his-luck bus driver.
The men had little in common beyond their Venezuelan seaside hometowns and the fact all four were among the more than 60 people killed since early September when the U.S. military began attacking boats that the Trump administration alleges were smuggling drugs. President Donald Trump and top U.S. officials have alleged the craft were being operated by narco-terrorists and cartel members bound with deadly drugs for American communities.
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