Gustavo Petro said that the US president\u2019s actions don\u2019t help stop drug traffickers<\/p>\n
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has denounced the US strikes on alleged cartel vessels in the Caribbean Sea as the Pentagon announced a new operation to fight drug traffickers.
\nColombia has historically cooperated with the US on security matters, particularly in dealing with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro\u2019s government and fighting drug trafficking, although their policy alignment has recently shifted under Petro, a former M-19 Marxist guerrilla.\u00a0
\nIn an interview with NBC News, Petro did not mince words when criticizing US President Donald Trump. \u201cHe\u2019s a barbarian,\u201d Petro said in excerpts aired Thursday. \u201cHe wants to frighten us,\u201d he added.
\nThe Colombian president did not rule out that some of the vessels hit by the strikes were linked to cartels. \u201cMaybe or maybe not. We do not know,\u201d he said, adding that, \u201cAccording to due process, the civilized treatment of people, they should be seized and detained.\u201d
\nPetro described the victims as \u201cpoor boatmen\u201d hired by cartels. \u201cThen when one of those missiles arrives [it] kills that boatman. It doesn\u2019t kill the drug trafficker,\u201d he said. He previously said that at least some of the victims were ordinary fishermen not involved with organized crime.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Venezuela puts military on high alert in response to US buildup in Caribbean<\/p>\n
The US imposed sanctions on Petro last month after Trump labeled him \u201ca drug leader.\u201d Colombia restricted intelligence-sharing with the US this week, although Interior Minister Armando Benedetti later clarified that Bogota would continue cooperating with US federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI.
\nThe US has hit at least 20 boats since September, killing an estimated 80 people. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Thursday the launch of Operation Southern Spear against \u201cnarcoterrorists\u201d in the region.
\nCNN reported that as part of the operation, Trump had been briefed on target options in Venezuela; he has accused\u00a0Maduro of helping cartels smuggle drugs into the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gustavo Petro said that the US president\u2019s actions don\u2019t help stop drug traffickers Colombian President Gustavo Petro has denounced the US strikes on alleged cartel vessels in the Caribbean Sea…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t