Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday that the latest alleged drug vessel the United States struck was actually a Colombian boat with citizens from the South American country aboard.
Late last week, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he ordered the U.S. military to carry out its fourth strike against a small boat carrying narcotics off the Venezuelan coast. He disclosed that the strike killed four men but declined to offer further details on who they were or whether they belonged to a drug cartel or gang that has been designated as a terrorist organization.
Colombia now alleges its own citizens have been caught in the crossfire.
“Indications show that the last boat bombed was Colombian, with Colombian citizens inside it. I hope their families come forward and report it,” Petro wrote on X. “There is no war against smuggling; there is a war for oil and it must be stopped by the world.”
“The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.
Petro’s response came one day after Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced he and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) would force a “vote to block President Trump’s use of our Armed Forces to conduct strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea.” Schiff argued the strikes are illegal because Congress has not authorized the military action.
Petro said Schiff was correct in bringing the matter to a vote and warned that a “new war scenario has opened up” in the Caribbean region.
The joint resolution is up for a Wednesday vote in the Senate.
“The resolution would stop this blowing up of ships,” Schiff said ahead of the vote. “It would also address the administration’s threat that they’re going to go potentially beyond blowing up ships at sea to attacking targets on land in Venezuela or elsewhere.”
On Sunday, President Donald Trump teased that the U.S. military may pivot toward targeting drug traffickers on land because they’re afraid to travel by water.
“They’re not coming in by sea anymore, so now we’ll have to start looking at the land,” he said at a ceremony for the Navy’s 250th anniversary in Norfolk, Virginia. “And let me tell you right now, that’s not going to work out well for them either.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio maintains that Trump has the authority to order the targeted strikes without permission from Congress.
TRUMP LOOKS TO PIVOT TO LAND DRUG TRAFFICKING AFTER DEADLY BOAT STRIKES
“This resolution aims to strip President Trump of his constitutional authority to protect Americans by authorizing military strikes against narco-terrorists, the Houthis, and other Iranian proxies,” Rubio posted on X. “This is dangerous — it puts our children, citizens, soldiers, and allies at risk.”
The Trump administration has ordered at least four strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats operated by “narco-terrorists” near Venezuela since early September. At least 21 people have been killed.
