The United States has launched military attacks on seven drug-trafficking vessels since September, killing at least 32 people.
President Trump considers ground attack on cartels after Caribbean ship attack
President Donald Trump has said a ground attack on drug cartels is possible after a boat crash in the Caribbean that left multiple people dead.
Colombia’s president has condemned the killing of U.S. officials in a military operation targeting drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean, and President Donald Trump has announced he will withhold aid to the country.
“U.S. officials committed murder and violated our sovereignty in our territorial waters,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media.
The United States has launched military attacks on seven drug-trafficking ships since September, killing at least 32 people. The latest attack was announced on October 19 by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who said the ship had been destroyed “transporting a large quantity of narcotics,” killing all three people on board. Legal experts and lawmakers from both parties have questioned the legality of the strike.
Petro said one of the airstrikes killed a fisherman who had “nothing to do with the drug trade.”
“The Colombian boat was adrift and was issuing a distress call due to engine failure,” Petro added in an Oct. 18 social media post. “We are awaiting clarification from the U.S. government.”
President Trump responded the next day, slamming Petro as “a very unpopular leader who is new to the United States but has low ratings.”
The president said the United States was cutting off financial aid to Colombia and warned it could go further.
Referring to illegal drug production in Colombia, President Trump wrote on social media on Oct. 19 that Petro “better shut down these murder scenes immediately, or the United States will shut them down for him, but that won’t work.”
Petro continued to criticize Trump, saying he was “disrespectful and ignorant of Colombia.”
Despite his feud with Petro, President Trump is sending survivors of a military attack on a drug smuggling ship back to Colombia. President Trump announced on October 18 that two people survived an attack on a submarine carrying illegal drugs heading to the United States.
The president said one of the survivors would be sent to Ecuador and the other to Colombia “for detention and prosecution.”
Petro has clashed with the Trump administration before. The State Department announced it was revoking the visa of the Colombian president who urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders from Trump during a speech at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York City in September.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist leader, accused President Trump of being “complicit in genocide” in Gaza in remarks outside the United Nations. He also called for “criminal proceedings” to be taken over the U.S. missile attack on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel.
Recent disputes between the two leaders highlight the risks posed by President Trump’s aggressive use of the military in the fight against suspected drug trafficking. Lawmakers are calling for a reduction in strikes.
In October, Republican senators blocked a bill pushed by Democrats Adam Schiff of California and Tim Kaine of Virginia that would have halted operations against boats in the Caribbean and would have reined in President Trump’s military actions without Congressional approval.
President Trump designated some drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” in February, a move that officials say gives them legal justification for attacks.
The president has indicated he may go further and order land strikes to combat drug leaks from Venezuelan cartels.
President Trump told reporters on October 15: “We are certainly looking to the land now because the oceans are well controlled.”
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributors: Joey Garrison, Cybele Mayes-Osterman
