Families of Trinidadian men seek accountability over US boat strike deaths

Families of two Trinidadian men have marked the first anniversary of their disappearance by renewing calls for accountability over a US boat strike they say killed them. Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo were among the people on a vessel struck on 14 October 2025, according to their relatives. The families say the men were fishermen and farm workers, not drug traffickers, and are now pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit in Massachusetts.

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In a statement issued on Wednesday, the families said the past year had been devastating and that they were still seeking justice. Joseph's mother, Lenore Burnley, said her son was loving, generous and caring, and described the loss as deeply painful for the family. The relatives say the two men had been working in Venezuela to support their families and had called home two days before setting out on the return journey.

They were never heard from again. The strike is part of a wider US military campaign against small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that began in September last year. The campaign has been justified by the US administration on the basis that the vessels were carrying so-called narco-terrorists, but critics have described the attacks as extrajudicial killings.

According to the supporting material, at least 239 people have been killed in the strikes since the campaign began. The US government has provided little evidence publicly to support its claims and has not identified the victims. The case has become part of a broader legal and political challenge to the boat-strike campaign.

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The families' lawsuit in Massachusetts is being supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, and relatives in other countries have also come forward to say their loved ones were among those killed. In those cases, families have said the dead were fishermen with no connection to drug trafficking. The Trinidad and Tobago case has drawn attention because it involves a lethal strike on a vessel returning from nearby Venezuela and because the families are seeking a formal legal remedy in the United States.

The wider dispute raises questions about the use of military force at sea, the standards used to identify targets, and the rights of families seeking answers after deaths in cross-border operations. It also highlights the difficulty of verifying who was on board when the US government has not publicly named the victims. For Trinidad and Tobago, the case has become a matter of grief as well as accountability, with the families insisting that the men should not be treated as suspected traffickers without evidence.

What remains unclear is whether the lawsuit will produce new information about the strike, the identities of those killed, or the legal basis for the campaign. The families continue to seek answers, while the broader boat-strike programme remains under scrutiny. Further developments are likely to depend on the progress of the Massachusetts case and any additional public response from US authorities.

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