QUITO, Ecuador: Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave new clarity Wednesday on the U.S. approach toward combating drug trafficking in Latin American waters, saying the Trump administration is now focused on working with allied countries and aligning with their laws but insisting the military will "still blow up ships if need be."
The public acknowledgment of a shift in U.S. strategy comes a year after Washington began a campaign of unilateral deadly strikes against those it calls "narcoterrorists" operating boats in international waters. Late Wednesday, U.S. Southern Command announced the latest such strike in the Caribbean Sea, saying it killed three people. That brought the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 230 in 69 strikes.
