(Reuters) -The U.S. has reported carrying out 13 strikes since September on vessels near the Venezuelan coast and more recently, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing more than 60 people, according to the U.S. secretary of defense, as it escalates a military buildup in the Caribbean Sea.
The U.S. has alleged, without presenting evidence, the boats it bombed were transporting drugs, but foreign leaders, some members of Congress, legal experts and family members of the deceased have called for proof.
The United Nations human rights chief has called U.S. strikes on alleged drug dealers off the coast of South America "unacceptable" and a violation of international human rights law, and Venezuela says they are illegal, amount to murder and are aggression against the sovereign South American country.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused Donald Trump of seeking regime change, an allegation the U.S. president has downplayed, despite reports of the administration's close contact with Venezuela's opposition.
In September, the U.S. built up its military presence in the Caribbean - including a nuclear submarine and a group of warships accompanying the world's largest aircraft carrier - prompting Maduro to shore up security powers and deploy tens of thousands of troops around the country.
The U.S. has described some of the victims of the strikes as Venezuelans, while Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said others were his countrymen. Family members of a Trinidadian man believed killed in a strike have demanded proof he was a drug trafficker.
Here is a list of U.S. strikes:
SEPTEMBER 2 - 11 people were killed in a strike on a vessel allegedly carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela, Trump said. This is the first known operation since his administration deployed warships to the southern Caribbean.
The Venezuelan government later denied any of the 11 victims were members of the Tren de Aragua gang cited by Trump.
SEPTEMBER 15 - Three men were killed in a strike on another alleged Venezuelan drug vessel while in international waters, Trump said, adding it was heading to the U.S. He provided no evidence that the boat was carrying drugs.
SEPTEMBER 19 - Three men were killed in another attack on a vessel allegedly carrying drugs, Trump said.
OCTOBER 3 - Four people were killed in a strike against another vessel allegedly carrying drugs, just off the Venezuelan coast, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
OCTOBER 14 - Six people were killed in another strike off Venezuela's coast, Trump said, alleging they were drug traffickers.
OCTOBER 16 - Two people were killed in another strike in the Caribbean. This marked the first case with survivors, a Colombian and an Ecuadorean, who were swiftly returned to their home countries.
Colombia said its national would be "processed according to the law." Ecuador said it has no evidence to detain its citizen and he has been released.
OCTOBER 17 - Three people were killed in a strike. Colombian President Gustavo Petro disputed Hegseth's claim the boat belonged to the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, saying it was the property of a "humble family." The ELN has also rejected Hegseth's claim.
OCTOBER 21 - Five people were killed in strikes against two vessels in the eastern Pacific, Hegseth said, alleging they were drug smugglers. The strike was the first known U.S. military operation in the Pacific since Trump's administration kicked off its new anti-drug campaign.
OCTOBER 24 - Six people were killed in the Caribbean, Hegseth said, alleging the vessel was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang.
OCTOBER 27 - Fourteen people were killed in three U.S. strikes against vessels the U.S. alleged transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific, which left one survivor. Mexican authorities took over the search-and-rescue operation for the lone survivor, Hegseth said.
Four days later, Mexico's Navy said it was suspending the search operation.
OCTOBER 29 - Four men were killed in a strike in the Eastern Pacific, Hegseth said, alleging it was a drug vessel.
NOVEMBER 1 - Three men were killed aboard a vessel in the Caribbean, Hegseth said, saying it was operated by a drug trafficking organization.
NOVEMBER 4- Two men were killed in international waters in the Eastern Pacific, in what Hegseth said was a suspected drug trafficking vessel.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Julia Symmes Cobb, Idrees Ali and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Alistair Bell and Marguerita Choy and Aurora Ellis)
