It's the Brian Lear Show.

I'm producer Amina Serna filling in for Brian today.

Good morning again, everyone.

Now we turn to Venezuela.

Since early September, the U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs.

Legal experts have said the strikes are illegal, extrajudicial killings.

They say the military is not allowed to target civilians, even suspected criminals.

As of last weekend, 21 U.S. strikes have killed at least 83 people, those numbers from the New York Times.

And in a continuing escalation, the Trump administration has sent the world's largest aircraft carrier to the coast of Venezuela.

12,000 U.S. sailors and Marines are currently in the region in what the U.S. Secretary of Defense

Pete Hegseth, formerly named Operation Southern Spear. The administration says its military

actions are an effort to counter the flow of illegal drugs.

Venezuela sees the ramping up of U.S. military force in its waters as a pretext to force out its president, Nicholas Maduro.

Joining us now on the latest is Regina Garcia-Cano, Andy's correspondent at the Associated Press.

Welcome to WMIC, Regina. Hi, Amina. Thank you for having me.

Thanks for being here. And listeners, those of you with ties to Venezuela or neighboring countries

in Latin or South America, we want to hear from you. Help us report this story. What are you hearing

from friends, family, or Spanish media on the U.S. strikes on suspected drugboats in Venezuela?

Or what questions do you have for our guest, Regina Garcia-Cano?

And he's correspondent at the Associated Press.

212-433 WMIC. That's 212-433-9692.

You can also text that number.

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