Merve Gül Aydoğan Ağlarcı
13 June 2026•Update: 13 June 2026
US President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that the US military had killed Hector Guerrero Flores, best known under his alias Nino Guerrero, the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
"At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Nino Guerrero," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, describing Tren de Aragua as "one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth."
Trump accused his predecessor of enabling the harm the group wrought, saying that "before I returned to office, Joe Biden opened our Southern Border to millions of Illegal Criminals," which he said allowed the gang to "rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity."
Mentioning victims of the gang, he said the operation delivered "retribution for them, their families, and their loved ones."
"This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well," Trump said, adding that Tren de Aragua "no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else."
He also pointed to earlier steps by the US, including designating the group as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" and deporting what he called "thousands of evil criminals."
Trump further vowed to pursue remaining members of the group "anytime, anyplace,” also sharing what was apparently a short video of the strike.
In a later post on US social media platform X, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced the "kinetic strike" that "underscores the shared U.S. and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere."
"We will continue to work closely with security partners, like Venezuela — and counties in the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C) partners — to take the fight to our enemies," he added.
