US airstrike in Venezuela kills Tren de Aragua leader Niño Guerrero

President Donald Trump announced that the United States carried out a coordinated airstrike with Venezuelan forces in the Bolívar state of southeastern Venezuela, targeting Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as “Niño Guerrero”. The operation, described by the White House as a “rapid and lethal kinetic attack”, resulted in Guerrero’s death.

Trump said the strike was aimed at eliminating “the infamous leader of one of the most blood‑thirsty terrorist organizations on the planet,” referring to the Tren de Aragua, which the United States has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The Venezuelan government confirmed participation in the joint operation and said it took place in a gold‑mining area in the Orinoco south.

U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Pete Hegseth called the raid a demonstration of the shared commitment between the United States and Venezuela to combat narco‑terrorists, noting the earlier U.S. bounty of up to $5 million for information on Guerrero. The strike marks a rare instance of direct U.S. military action on Venezuelan soil against a transnational criminal network.