Old speed boat image unrelated to US strikes on alleged drug-traffickers

"Democrats can't identify a woman, a criminal, a peaceful protest, dementia, or which bathroom to use, but they sure can identify a fishing boat when they see one," says a December 3, 2025 post on X that includes an image of a speed boat laden with items seemingly unrelated to fishing.

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Screenshot of an X post taken December 17, 2025

The image spread rapidly across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and appeared to be the basis for an AI-generated video circulating in Spanish as Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro accuses Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext for regime change in Caracas. 

Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged "Cartel of the Suns," which it declared a "narco-terrorist" organization in November, and is offering a $50 million reward for information leading to his capture (archived here).

The US military has thus far only struck boats in international waters in what many experts say amount to extrajudicial killings. Throughout the campaign in the Caribbean, no conclusive evidence was publicly presented that the occupants of the targeted vessels were drug traffickers.

Fisherman from Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago told AFP they face a deadly calculus about whether to head out to sea. The family of 42-year-old Colombian Alejandro Carranza Medina -- killed on September 15 -- reject assertions there were drugs on his vessel, insisting he was a fisherman. 

And the image which appears to contradict these testimonials is unrelated to the current conflict.

Reverse image searches traced the picture to a December 4, 2014 article on Marti Noticias (archived here), a Cuban news site. The caption says it is an archive photo, meaning the image may predate 2014. It is regularly used to illustrate stories about drug trafficking, including in 2016 and 2017 (archived here and here).

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Screenshot of the Marti website taken December 15, 2025 with elements outlined by AFP

Attack under scrutiny

The targeting of a boat on September 2, 2025 is especially controversial, as two survivors of an initial strike were killed in a subsequent attack.

US lawmakers attended a classified briefing earlier this month in which they were shown extended video footage of the incident, only a brief part of which has been publicly released.

There are, however, still conflicting views about whether the follow-up attack was justified and the Pentagon has yet to release the full footage of the incident. 

The Pentagon has defended its operation, dubbed "Southern Spear," by arguing it is targeting drug cartels designated under the Trump administration as foreign terrorist organizations.

Find more of AFP's coverage on misinformation in Latin America here.