Wilder Fernández has caught four good-sized fish in the murky waters of a small bay north of Lake Maracaibo. The contents of his net will serve as dinner for his small team before they set out to go fishing again in the evening. But this daily task is a job he has recently become scared of doing.
After 13 years as a fisherman, Mr. Fernández confesses that he now fears his job could turn lethal. He is afraid he could die in these waters not at the hands of a night-time attacker - a threat fishermen like him encountered in the past - but rather, killed in a strike launched by a foreign power. It's crazy, man, he says of the deployment of U.S. warships, fighter jets, a submarine, and thousands of U.S. troops in waters north of Venezuela's coast.
The U.S. force patrolling in the Caribbean is part of a military operation targeting suspected narco-terrorists, which according to the White House have links to the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro. Since last month, the U.S. has conducted at least six strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean, with the latest being carried out on Thursday.
At least 27 people have been killed, but Thursday's strike appeared to be the first to have survivors aboard the boat. The U.S. has accused those killed of smuggling drugs but has so far not presented any evidence. Experts have suggested the strikes could be illegal under international law.
Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela escalated further on Wednesday when U.S. President Donald Trump said that he was considering strikes on Venezuelan soil. He also confirmed that he had authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela.
Even though the strikes are said by the U.S. to have happened thousands of kilometers from where he fishes, Mr. Fernández's wife has been trying to convince him to leave Lake Maracaibo. Every day she begs him to leave his fishing job. She tells me to look for another job, but there's nowhere to go, he explains.
The fear of being hit by a U.S. strike is the latest of a long list of risks he and his men face, including pirates, oil spills, and a decline in earnings in recent years. The Trump administration has determined it is involved in a non-international armed conflict with drug-trafficking organizations. The White House described the attacks on the boats in the Caribbean as self-defense in response to criticism by legal experts who said they were illegal.
Meanwhile, the attacks in the Caribbean have undermined the security of the fishermen in Venezuela. Jennifer Nava, spokeswoman for the Council of Fishermen in El Bajo, reported that people employed in the fishing industry fear being hit in the crossfire between U.S. forces and alleged drug traffickers. Ms. Nava argues that the added risks fishermen are facing could drive some of them into the arms of drug and arms smugglers looking to recruit people to transport their illicit shipments.
Despite the fears, there is a feeling of defiance among some fishermen. José Luzardo, who has been fishing for almost 40 years, has been vocal about not being afraid and his willingness to defend his homeland if needed. He insists that what the fishermen want is peace and work, not war. The ongoing situation continues to unfold as fishermen navigate their livelihoods against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions.
