Andrew Sage

At least 32 people have been killed.

Two people have been detained and then repatriated.

And a number of vessels have been struck.

The US, it's bringing its war on terrorism logic to the Western Hemisphere.

It's claiming that it's fighting narco-terrorism.

And it's claiming that these boats are, for the most part, carrying Venezuelan nationals coming out of Venezuela.

We've heard from Colombia that one Colombian national has been killed.

The two people who were detained were

Ecuadorian and Colombian to Trinidadian or Trinidad and Tobago nationals have been killed as well and this has sparked something of a war of words now it seems to be a war of more than that like tariffs and sanctions and I believe Colombia has withdrawn their diplomats from D.C.

as of today or yesterday.

So it sparked significant political turmoil in the Western Hemisphere.

I think we have a really good panel to talk about that.

So to begin with, I guess we should start, Michael, can you explain the accusation here, right?

It's that these people are members of Tren de Aragua or potentially some other cartels that the Trump administration likes to talk about.

We've talked about the prevalence of those groups, but can you explain very briefly what they are and, I suppose, the function that they have in Venezuela or what they're doing there versus what's being claimed that they're doing?

Sure.

I do research on organized crime in Latin America, and Reina de Aragua is a real organized criminal group in Venezuela and now all over Latin America.

It is a street gang that started out as a prison gang.

It does not primarily engage in international drug trafficking, moving large quantities of drugs across national borders or across oceans.

It is primarily engaged in human trafficking and extortion rackets.