MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Saturday, June 13th 2026 - 07:02 UTC
Trump said the operation was “coordinated closely” with Venezuela, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held that US forces struck a Tren de Aragua compound
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday night that his country's Southern Command had killed, in a “swift and lethal” strike, Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Niño Guerrero, whom he described as the leader of Tren de Aragua, “one of the most bloodthirsty terrorist organizations on the planet.” Venezuela's government confirmed hours later the death of the criminal boss, which occurred in Bolívar state, in the country's southeast.
The two accounts differ on the role of the United States. Trump said the operation was “coordinated closely” with Venezuela, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held that US forces struck a Tren de Aragua compound. The Venezuelan statement, by contrast, defined it as a “combined operation” between security agencies of both countries, based on technological cooperation and intelligence sharing; Venezuelan sources said there was “never” a US military presence on their territory during the attack. Trump accompanied his announcement with a video, not independently verified, in which a projectile hits a building that erupts in flames.
