Trump says US strike kills leader of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua

WASHINGTON, United States — WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump announced that US Southern Command has killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Nino Guerrero, the leader of the Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua prison gang. In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said the operation was carried out at his direction. A New York court indicted the 42-year-old Guerrero Flores in 2025 on charges of plotting terrorist attacks on US soil, and he had been a fugitive since. The gang was founded in 2014 in Venezuela's Aragua state and has spread to eight South American countries, according to intelligence reports cited by Trump. The United States has designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization. Tren de Aragua is accused of human trafficking, murder, kidnapping, theft, extortion and drug smuggling. Trump said the operation was coordinated with Venezuelan authorities and that members of the group no longer have a safe haven in Venezuela.