Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has condemned United States airstrikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea, describing them as an “act of tyranny” and calling for accountability if Colombian nationals are among the dead.
In an interview with the BBC in New York, where world leaders are attending the annual United Nations gathering, Petro questioned the legality and proportionality of the strikes, which the Trump administration said are aimed at curbing the flow of fentanyl and other illegal narcotics into the US. Reports indicate that at least 17 people have been killed since the operations began earlier this month.
“Why launch a missile if you could simply stop the boat and arrest the crew? That’s what one would call murder,” Petro said. He argued that anti-narcotics operations should result in “zero deaths”, adding that “the principle of the proportionality of force is violated if you use anything more than a pistol”.
Petro stressed that Colombia has a long history of cooperating with US and other agencies to intercept drug shipments without fatalities. “We have a long history of collaborating with American agencies and other agencies of carrying out maritime seizures of cocaine. No one has ever died before. There is no need to kill anyone,” he said.
The Trump administration has provided limited details on the strikes, which it says have mainly targeted Venezuela and members of the Tren de Aragua gang. However, those claims are disputed, and United Nations experts have described the operations as extrajudicial executions. Democratic lawmakers in Washington have also raised questions about the legality of the strikes under international law.
Responding to Petro’s remarks, the White House said President Trump was “prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice”.
Petro accused Washington of humiliating Colombians and insisted that South America would not “bow down to the king”. He added that it was Trump who risked isolating the United States with his aggressive foreign policies. “Trump had already insulted me during a presidential campaign, he called me a terrorist,” Petro recalled.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has toughened his stance on Latin America, expanding deportations of migrants, designating several drug-trafficking groups as terrorist organisations, and deploying additional naval vessels along with thousands of Marines and sailors to the Caribbean. Among those targeted is the Cartel of the Suns, which the US alleges is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and senior officials from the country’s military and intelligence services.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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