Trump bombed Colombian ship, says Petro

According to Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, “four narco-terrorists aboard the boat were killed” in the attack in question, carried out on October 3.

The strike took place “in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, while the boat was carrying large quantities of narcotics bound for the United States to poison our population”, he added.

As part of the “armed conflict” launched by Donald Trump against the drug cartels, the US military has carried out at least four strikes targeting such boats since the beginning of September.

“Indications are that the last boat bombed was Colombian and that there were Colombian citizens inside,” said the Colombian president via X.

The head of state did not, however, specify the source of his information or why he believes the people on board were citizens of his country.

The US military has not publicly identified the boat’s passengers. Petro said it hoped their families would come forward.

A White House spokesman told CBS News that the U.S. is “waiting for President Petro to publicly retract his baseless and reprehensible statement [so that he can] return to a productive dialogue about building a strong and prosperous future for the people of the United States and Colombia.”

The spokesman stressed, however, that Colombia remains an important U.S. partner despite “policy differences with the current government.”

“Why launch a missile if you could simply stop the boat and arrest the crew? That’s what one would call murder,” Petro also denounced.

Tensions were already high between the American and Colombian administrations.

Petro had notably taken part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration on September 26 in the streets of New York, where he had travelled for the UN General Assembly.

The left-wing leader had then encouraged members of the US army to “disobey” Trump’s orders.

The United States reacted by revoking Mr. Petro’s visa, then criticized his government for failing to cooperate in efforts to combat drug trafficking.

Some members of Congress have claimed that President Trump is acting without legal authority, and have asked the administration to provide evidence that the boats were carrying drugs or that the passengers were guilty of anything.

Congress has not authorized the use of military force against drug cartels.

Senate Democrats forced a vote to block further strikes. The measure failed by 48 votes to 51.

However, it won the support of Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a long-time skeptic of the use of military force.