President Donald Trump announced on Friday that U.S. forces conducted a strike that killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Nino Guerrero, the leader of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.
Details of the Operation
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, "At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Nino Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet." He added that the action was closely coordinated with friends in Venezuela, with whom the U.S. is working very well.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth confirmed on X that the strike occurred earlier this week and that Guerrero was killed during the operation.
Venezuelan Government Response
Venezuela's information ministry reported that during the operation, there were clashes with members of criminal groups, leading to Guerrero being neutralized. The ministry emphasized that the operation involved specialized technological support and was carried out through cooperation and intelligence-sharing between authorities of both countries.
Background on Tren de Aragua
The Trump administration has repeatedly targeted Guerrero and other leaders of Tren de Aragua with sanctions over alleged involvement in criminal activities, including illicit drug smuggling, human trafficking, and money laundering. The State Department has designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump has claimed that Tren de Aragua coordinated its U.S. activities with the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro. This alleged connection has been used to justify deporting some immigrants in the U.S. to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Tren de Aragua is known for its involvement in human trafficking and controlling routes taken by Venezuelans and other South American migrants heading to Chile and other destinations. The group has also been linked to extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, contract killings, smuggling, and organized retail theft across Latin America, from Panama to Brazil and along the Andean corridor, according to Latin American police officials.
Guerrero escaped from the Tocoron prison in Venezuela along with other gang leaders just before a police raid in 2023.
