US Donald Trump announced Friday evening that the US Southern Command had killed the leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Niño Guerrero, in a “swift and deadly” strike, as reported by Deutsche Welle. Trump called Guerrero Flores the leader of “one of the bloodiest terrorist organizations on the planet.” The Venezuelan government confirmed hours later the death of the gang boss, which occurred in the southeastern state of Bolívar.
The accounts of the US role differ. Trump said the operation was “closely coordinated with Venezuela,” and Pete Hegseth emphasized that US forces had attacked a Tren de Aragua base. The Venezuelan government, however, spoke of a “combined operation” between the security agencies of both countries based on technological cooperation and intelligence exchange; Venezuelan sources stressed that there was “never” a US military presence on their territory during the attack.
Guerrero Flores, 43, was considered the leader of Venezuela’s most powerful criminal gang. He had run the organization for over a decade from the Tocorón prison in Aragua, which he turned into his own domain with a swimming pool, nightclub, and zoo. After his escape in 2013 and recapture, he was serving a prison sentence when the Venezuelan government stormed the prison with 11,000 troops in September 2023; the boss had already fled and his whereabouts had been unknown since. The US designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025; the group is at the center of Trump’s immigration and deportation policy.
EuroPulse reported on June 13, 2026, about a possible agreement between the US and Iran, in which Trump accused Tehran of lying (https://europulse.today/usa-iran-abkommen-trump-teheran-luege/).
Source: www.dw.com
