Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil has denounced another provocation by the U.S. naval forces deployed in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela, under the pretext of “fighting drugs.” In a Sept. 13 press conference, Gil reported that the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Jason Dunham—which is equipped with cruise missiles, he pointed out—had intercepted a Venezuelan tuna fishing boat operating within Venezuela’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Sept. 12. Eighteen heavily armed men from the USS Jason Dunham boarded and searched the Venezuelan boat, looking, they said, for drugs. The Venezuelan Navy reported it had “monitored” the episode closely.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the USS Jason Dunham had intercepted and searched the fishing boat, but did not find any drugs.
