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 US warships, fighter jets, a submarine and thousands of US troops in waters north of Venezuela's coast.
The US 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 2 September, the US has carried out a number of strikes against what it labelled narco-boats, in which at least 27 people have been killed.
The US 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 US and Venezuela escalated further when US President Donald Trump suggested strikes on Venezuelan soil and confirmed authorizing CIA operations within Venezuela.
Mr. Fernández is aware of the increasing danger in his line of work. Although the strikes are said to have happened miles away from where he fishes, his wife has been urging him to quit, fearing for his safety. Every day she pleads for him to leave fishing, but he feels there are no alternatives.
He contemplates that his boat could be mistaken for a target. Of course it worries me, you never know. I think about it every day, man, says the father of three.
Even as fear grips the fishing community, sentiments of resistance persist. Many fishermen have rallied in support of the Maduro government, vowing to defend their homeland against perceived threats from the US military. If they [the US] want to kill us, then so be it, but we're not afraid, declares José Luzardo, a veteran fisherman, urging for peace but prepared to stand against foreign aggression.
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 US warships, fighter jets, a submarine and thousands of US troops in waters north of Venezuela's coast.
The US 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 2 September, the US has carried out a number of strikes against what it labelled narco-boats, in which at least 27 people have been killed.
The US 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 US and Venezuela escalated further when US President Donald Trump suggested strikes on Venezuelan soil and confirmed authorizing CIA operations within Venezuela.
Mr. Fernández is aware of the increasing danger in his line of work. Although the strikes are said to have happened miles away from where he fishes, his wife has been urging him to quit, fearing for his safety. Every day she pleads for him to leave fishing, but he feels there are no alternatives.
He contemplates that his boat could be mistaken for a target. Of course it worries me, you never know. I think about it every day, man, says the father of three.
Even as fear grips the fishing community, sentiments of resistance persist. Many fishermen have rallied in support of the Maduro government, vowing to defend their homeland against perceived threats from the US military. If they [the US] want to kill us, then so be it, but we're not afraid, declares José Luzardo, a veteran fisherman, urging for peace but prepared to stand against foreign aggression.
