Colombian President Gustavo Petro has rejected claims that US strikes on ships in the Caribbean are part of the fight against international drug trafficking. The leader of the South American republic called the United States itself, as well as European countries, "hotbeds" of drug trafficking.
"Narcoterrorists don't sail on boats. Drug traffickers live in the US, Europe and Dubai", he wrote in X, commenting on a post by Colombian radio station Caracol that included a video of attacks on ships in the Caribbean.
According to Petro, the actions of the US military are disproportionate. "These boats carry young people, poor people from every Caribbean country. Attacking ships with missiles in cases where they can be intercepted, as Colombia has done, violates the general legal principle of proportionality,“ the president stressed.
According to Reuters, on August 19, three US Navy destroyers were deployed to the southern Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela “to conduct anti-drug operations“. The US said it had deployed a nuclear submarine, a missile cruiser, landing ships and 4,500 troops to the region. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the country was facing the most serious threat of a US invasion in 100 years.
The US Navy has already destroyed at least two motorboats with a total of 14 crew members in international waters in the Caribbean Sea, which were allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela. In his address to the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, US President Donald Trump said that the US would continue to strike ships allegedly linked to Venezuelan drug cartels.