What a reporter found when she investigated US military strikes on Venezuelan drug boats

GÜIRIA, Venezuela (AP) – Regina Garcia Cano was the reporter behind The Associated Press story that provided the first comprehensive account and identifies of some of the men killed in recent U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats.

In dozens of interviews in villages on Venezuela’s breathtaking northeastern coast, from which some of the boats departed, residents and relatives told Garcia Cano the dead men had indeed been running drugs but were not narco-terrorists, as alleged by the Trump administration, or leaders of a cartel or gang.

Most of the nine men were crewing such craft for the first or second time, making at least $500 per trip, residents and relatives said. The four dead men included a fisherman, a down-on-his-luck bus driver, a former military cadet and a local crime boss. Others included laborers and a motorcycle driver.

This is an interview of Garcia Cano by Del Quentin Wilber, her editor on the story.

I visited Venezuela’s Paria Peninsula in the days after the U.S. military’s first strike. I arrived with the goal of identifying the 11 men killed, and I left with an understanding of the area’s dynamics but without solid names. People were too afraid to speak up. My flight back to Caracas was still on the runway when I had already decided that I would be returning to the area within weeks.

I am determined to identify as many of the men as possible due to the conflicting claims of the U.S. and Venezuelan governments about the military operation. The U.S. government has released no information about the dead men, and the Venezuelan government has been just as circumspect.

AP video journalist Juan Arraez and I faced several challenges in reporting this story, chief among them were sources’ very real fears of being punished – particularly by the Venezuelan government – for speaking to reporters.

Repression is not new in Venezuela, but the government of President Nicolás Maduro has intensified it since last year’s presidential election, when ruling-party loyalists declared him the winner despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. More than 2,000 people were detained in the days after the election, some over social media posts critical of the government.

The relatives of some of the men killed in the strikes were especially fearful of speaking to AP because police and state intelligence agents searched their homes shortly after their loved ones’ deaths.

In addition to fear, I saw stifling poverty throughout the trip. Shuttered businesses, abandoned homes, very long lines of vehicles and motorcycles waiting for fuel, and crumbling infrastructure. I also got to admire the breathtaking natural beauty of Venezuela.

We talked with several people in multiple communities who knew the men at different stages of their lives. We used social media posts and publicly available information to corroborate some of the information.

The lack of information has affected the lives of everyone in these villages. Relatives have not been able to properly mourn loved ones, even though they know they died, because the government won’t confirm the deaths and might punish them if they hold a funeral.

I know how important mourning can be. I’ve lost loved ones in recent years, and mourning rituals helped make sense of each loss. These families may never get that chance.

Relatives of some of the men expressed anguish over what they described as an ambiguous loss.