President Petro of Colombia denounces US strikes on alleged drug boats as “acts of tyranny”
President Gustavo Petro demanded accountability for potential Colombian casualties and denounced US airstrikes that killed 17 people in the Caribbean as illegal.
President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has denounced American bombings on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea, calling them a “act of tyranny” and demanding that those responsible for the deaths be held accountable if Colombians are among the dead.
Petro questioned the legitimacy and proportionality of the attacks, which the Trump administration claims are intended to stop the flow of fentanyl and other illegal narcotics into the US, in an interview with the BBC in New York, where world leaders are holding the annual United Nations meeting. Since the operations started earlier this month, at least 17 people have reportedly been slain.
“If you could just halt the boat and take the crew into custody, why use a missile? “That would be considered murder,” Petro remarked. “The principle of the proportionality of force is violated if you use anything more than a pistol,” he said, adding that anti-drug operations should result in “zero deaths.”
Colombia has a lengthy history of working with the United States and other authorities to stop drug shipments without causing any fatalities, Petro emphasized. We have a lengthy history of working with U.S. and foreign agencies to conduct cocaine seizures at sea. There has never been a death. “No one needs to be killed,” he stated.
The Trump administration claims that the strikes have mostly targeted Venezuela and Tren de Aragua gang members, although it has given few details about them. Nonetheless, those assertions are contested, and experts from the UN have referred to the operations as extrajudicial executions. The legitimacy of the strikes under international law has also been questioned by Democratic politicians in Washington.
President Trump is “ready to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice,” the White House said in response to Petro’s comments.
Petro maintained that South America will not “bow down to the king” and accused Washington of degrading Colombians. He went on to say that Trump’s assertive foreign policy was the one that put the US at risk of isolation. Petro remembered, “Trump had already called me a terrorist and insulted me during a presidential campaign.”
Trump has taken a more aggressive approach to Latin America since taking office again in January. He has increased the number of migrants he deports, designated a number of drug trafficking organizations as terrorist organizations, and sent more military ships, thousands of Marines, and sailors to the Caribbean. The Cartel of the Suns, which the US claims is headed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and top military and intelligence officials, is one of the targets.
