The Trump administration is considering military strikes on Venezuela if President Nicolás Maduro doesn’t step up pressure on drug cartels. That’s according to independent investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein, citing military sources who said the Pentagon is drafting plans to attack Venezuela’s military aircraft or to bomb its airfields. This comes just days after Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets buzzed U.S. Navy ships gathering north of Venezuela.
 
Meanwhile, The Intercept is reporting that the 11 people on board the boat in the Caribbean that was destroyed by the U.S. military last week were said to have survived an initial strike and were killed shortly after in follow-up attacks. The boat reportedly turned back toward shore after people on board apparently spotted a military aircraft stalking it. Republican Senator Rand Paul revealed that the attack was carried out by a drone. Paul criticized the strike as a breach of long-accepted rules of engagement. The Trump administration has claimed, without evidence, it targeted Venezuelan drug traffickers. Legal experts called the extrajudicial killings acts of murder and a war crime.