BOGOTA – On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged a criminal investigation into U.S. President Donald Trump and other officials, concerning recent lethal attacks on boats in the Caribbean. The White House claims these boats were involved in drug transport.
Petro denounced these three incidents during his address at the U.N. General Assembly, where he further condemned Trump for penalizing poverty and migration.
“Legal action should be initiated against these U.S. officials, even if it means including the top official responsible for the orders: President Trump,” Petro stated, disputing claims by the Trump administration that those on the boats were part of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang following the first attack.
Petro contended that if the vessels were indeed carrying drugs as the U.S. asserts, the individuals aboard “were not traffickers; they were merely impoverished young Latin Americans with limited choices.”
Petro’s remarks followed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s announcement that his administration is drafting constitutional decrees to protect the nation’s sovereignty in the face of any potential “aggression” from U.S. forces.
The details surrounding the deadly strikes remain scarce. The initial attack on September 2, which claimed 11 lives, was acknowledged by the Trump administration. According to U.S. officials, both targeted vessels had departed from Venezuela, with the second attack on September 16 resulting in three additional deaths.
The U.S. military struck a third boat Friday, killing three people.
The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. It has yet to explain how the military assessed the boats’ cargo and determined the alleged gang affiliation of passengers.
U.S. national security officials told members of Congress that the first boat taken out was fired on multiple times after it had changed course and appeared headed back to shore.
“They said that the missiles in the Caribbean were used to stop drug trafficking. That is a lie stated here in this very rostrum,” Petro said Tuesday in what appeared to be a direct reference to Trump, who spoke hours earlier. “Was it really necessary to bomb unarmed, poor young people in the Caribbean?”
Maduro has accused the Trump administration of using drug trafficking accusations as an excuse for a military operation whose intentions are to oust his government.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, restarted his country’s diplomatic relations with Venezuela after taking office in 2022.
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