Colombian President Gustavo Petro has strongly criticized the United States for its recent airstrikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea, labeling them as an ‘act of tyranny.’ In an interview with the BBC, Petro called for criminal proceedings against US officials if investigations confirm that Colombians were killed in the attacks. The airstrikes, which began this month and have reportedly claimed 17 lives, were defended by President Donald Trump as necessary measures to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illegal narcotics into the US. However, legal experts and lawmakers have raised concerns about potential violations of international human rights laws. Petro questioned the proportionality of the force used, stating, ‘Why launch a missile if you could simply stop the boat and arrest the crew? That’s what one would call murder.’ He emphasized that there should be ‘zero deaths’ in operations targeting drug-smuggling speedboats, noting Colombia’s history of successful maritime cocaine seizures without fatalities. The strikes, primarily focused on Venezuela, have drawn criticism from Democratic lawmakers and UN experts, who describe them as extrajudicial executions. The White House responded by asserting Trump’s commitment to using all available power to combat drug trafficking. Petro also accused the Trump administration of humiliating his people and vowed that South American nations would not ‘bow down to the king.’ This latest clash follows Trump’s designation of several Latin American drug-trafficking organizations as terrorist entities and his deployment of additional US military forces to the southern Caribbean. Petro, who has a contentious history with Trump, argued that it is the US president’s foreign policies that are isolating the United States.
Colombia’s president calls US attacks on alleged drug boats ‘act of tyranny’
