The fifth US destruction of a boat between Venezuela and Trinidad has taken the life of two Trinidadians, with relatives disputing American accounts that it was fetching cocaine for onward shipment to the US mainland.
Local media on Thursday reported that Trinidadian national Chad “Charpo” Joseph, 26, and a second local, identified only as Samaroo, were among the six killed when US warships opened fire on a vessel sailing off the Venezuelan coast on Wednesday. The White House alleged that the boat had been fetching cocaine bales as its cargo, an accusation that neighbors and relatives dispute, contending that Joseph in particular is a known fisherman. Joseph is from Las Cuevas, a seaside village on Trinidad’s west coast, looking into the Gulf of Paria separating the two nations.
Their deaths came weeks after Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar had urged the US to “kill them all violently,” seemingly unaware that some of her nationals who make a living off waters in the area between Trinidad and Venezuela or in the Atlantic might one day fall victim to US military plans in the South Caribbean. Officials are yet to react to the latest developments.
The Guardian newspaper quoted Lenore Burnley, Joseph’s mom, as saying that the second of her six children was no drug dealer and that he was trying to return home from Venezuela. The rival Trinidad Express said Joseph had been in Colombia and was transiting Venezuela when the boat was blown out of the water by the US military.
“I leave everything in God’s hands. He knows, he sees, and I ‘does’ say he does give you what you can bear. He wouldn’t give you what you cannot bear. So, I leave everything to God. I find it wrong because it has people who will be innocent, and they will still do and say otherwise. So, I can’t justify it to other people, but it’s not right. The sea law is they are supposed to stop the boat and intercept it, not blow it up like that.”
Grandma, Christine Clement, said she would prefer if he remained in Venezuela because of the dangers of being on the high seas. “The first time he was coming up, they shot up the boat, and he ended up surviving. Some people take care of him. Two days ago, I asked his mother when he was coming, and she said something had happened to the boat, and he couldn’t come back again and had to turn back, she told the local publication.
There have been reports about local fishermen staying away from the water for fear of being mistaken for an alleged narcotic smuggling boat.
