By Eniola Amadu
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sharply criticized recent US airstrikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea, describing them as an “act of tyranny” and calling for accountability if Colombians were among the dead.
In an interview with the BBC, Petro said US officials should face criminal proceedings if investigations confirm Colombian citizens were killed.
The strikes, ordered by President Donald Trump, have reportedly killed at least 17 people since they began earlier this month.
Trump has defended the operations, saying they are necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal narcotics into the United States.
The White House told reporters the president was “prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”
Petro, however, questioned both the legality and necessity of the strikes.
“Why launch a missile if you could simply stop the boat and arrest the crew? That’s what one would call murder,” he said.
He argued that maritime seizures of cocaine have long been carried out jointly by Colombian and US agencies without loss of life.
“There is no need to kill anyone,” he added, saying the principle of proportionality was violated “if you use anything more than a pistol.”
The Trump administration has provided little detail about the individuals killed or the specific targets.
Officials initially claimed that members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang were aboard the first boat attacked, but those reports remain disputed.
Democratic lawmakers in Washington have demanded clarity on the legality of the strikes, while United Nations experts have described them as extrajudicial executions.
The operations have mainly focused on waters near Venezuela, though the US has expanded its military presence across the southern Caribbean in recent months, deploying more naval vessels and thousands of Marines and sailors.
Petro also used the interview, conducted in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, to criticize what he described as the humiliation of South Americans under Trump’s policies.
He said regional countries would not “bow down to the king,” accusing Washington of isolating itself through aggressive foreign actions.
Trump has previously insulted Petro, calling him a “terrorist” during a past campaign.
