Gerald R Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, has arrived in the Caribbean Sea.

Further escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela.

The Trump administration has used drones to strike 20 alleged drug boats in the region, killing 83 people that the U.S.

claims are narcoterrorists.

The Trump administration also claims Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is the head of the cartel, their car, the cartel that of solace, the moves have come under scrutiny for both the tactics and the reasons for them.

Joining joining us with some insight Mina Brito, professor of Spanish Portuguese, Latin American and Caribbean studies at Northwestern University.

And on zoom, Alberto Cole, a professor of law and director of global engagement at DePaul University.

Thanks to both for joining us.

The professor Cole want to start with you with these military strikes on the boats in the Caribbean.

The administration says that it is going after the drug cartels using drones.

Are these attacks a violation of international law?

Can they do this?

>> The of talks might be a violation of international.

But I think what we need to keep our eye on is the more important development, which is the massive U.S.

naval buildup in the Caribbean, which I think is is going to use is being used right now at the pressure in a dual to leave power and that the administration, of course, is selling this to its base as campaign against drugs against illegal drugs.

And lots of illegal drugs are coming from Colombia through Venezuela and the cartels.

But there really a political issue here is what the United States may do to push mud or this is this is really the most important one for for all of Yes, yeah.

What?

We're going to get some more of that as But critics of the Trump administration say that even if the folks, the vessels that have been >> struck or bond, even if they are narco traffickers, that would still need to be investigated.

There would have to be arrests and given due process.

Is that the case?

>> And >> Normally that's that's been the practice of the United States that, you know, with pirates.

You know, we arrest them and then we try them and then we sent us them accordingly.

So, yes, this is a very new development.

The administration argues of these people are terrorists that they're being treated the way we tweeted out Qaeda.

But what that stretches the definition because al Qaeda was planning military attacks against the United States.

Whereas people that are being targeted on boats are bringing lots of staff that do cause the deaths and injuries to 10's of thousands of Americans.

But they're not treated as tax there.

They're just a very, very nasty kind of illegal trade that's going on.

And normally the practice has been retain them, arrest them, tried federal court.

>> So we talked about the reasons President Trump has called President Maduro a narco terrorist himself, alleging that the Venezuelan president is running the cartel.

That of solace.

The secretary of state Marco Rubio claiming that Maduro's an illegitimate leader that he interfered with the Venezuelan elections and basically stole it.

Can't be all of the above or is the Trump administration just building its argument greeting the framework?

>> Now both of these issues, the Trump administration is first of I recommend to our viewers that they look at the Department of Justice Web site, the indictment against Nicolas Maduro issued in March of 2020 and documents extensively I his ties with drug cartels.

Whether or not he's the titular head of the cartel or is irrelevant.

His regime very specifically is involved in allowing the cartels to operate as a major facilitator on makes lots of money from it.

And then, you know, the the other issue has to do with fact that of the regime did steal several elections most spectacularly the last election last year, which by the account all international observers, it lost by over 20 percentage points.

And so empowering legally.

And its tactic always has been to put effective as they tried to do it Monday, echoing Machado and they disqualified from running then and moved alongside rant and her place as the head of the opposition.

And he still be my by huge margin.

So that election was stolen.

new rule is in power illegally.

On top of that The massive amount of mystery that bad regime has brought to the Venezuela people.

8 million Venezuelans have sled.

They're all right, because such that happen doesn't possess that.

We know many them have fled to the United States that tightly over content >> want to get a 4 million Americans leaving.

imagine 94 million Americans leaving this country because of the Harvell regime that And minute I want to get Professor Brito and on here because critic critics believe that the Republican Party is using the conflict to access Boyle in the region.

What do you think is motivating the Trump administration to escalate and focus on what's going on in this region?

>> Well, definitely that's one of the reason's and actually strongly disagree with my colleague here about, you know, the evidence is that provide.

>> To show that Chargers are true.

They haven't shown any evidence even a cypress my duel, they haven't shown any evidence to any of the people that have been killed.

The United Nations High commissioner has say it.

We've a shade of a doubt that these are extrajudicial killings there.

No evidence against any of the 80 people so far that have been killed in these drone attacks.

So what is happening here a violation of international human rights law in the agreement among nations not Kazakhstan on to narcotics team.

It our law enforcement operation, not a military mater.

And that's when we see what Trump is doing to administration is doing right now is reviving and resuscitated interesting historical pattern here.

But he's using the war on drugs.

That's tool kit.

A set of resources, his strategies in these courses, including the these course calling everybody traffickers and terrorists.

I wait to administer state violence in moments of crisis, which is what we have right now in the United States.

Remind us a little bit of that history and the relationship between the U.S.

and Venezuela briefly.

>> Well, the thing is that in order to understand is he's 3.

We need to go beyond the very narrow scope of in a swift.

So everything is about in this one in for gene change in Venice.

One of the really what we need to understand these the U.S.

way addressing the relationship with the rest of the hemisphere.

And we Latin are generally 2 pieces of all business when.

yes, but he's so much Columbia is also about Ecuador is also about Cuba is also about central American Panama.

So really, this is kind of strategy for the whole region that goes beyond Venice.

Well.

>> Great and briefly, I think were actually out of time.

I wish we had more to get even further into this and more about to what Professor Cole raised about the the growing conflict in the region.

We