US-Colombia rift deepens as White House demands Petro retract Caribbean strike claims
President Petro says evidence indicates US-bombed vessel carried Colombian citizens, challenges Trump administration to provide information on people killed
Colombian President Gustavo Petro
BOGOTA, Colombia
Diplomatic tensions between Colombia and the United States have escalated after the White House asked Colombian President Gustavo Petro to publicly retract his recent statements regarding US military operations in the Caribbean.
In response, Petro challenged the Trump administration Wednesday.
"Let the White House give us the information of the people who died by missiles from the US, to know if my information is unfounded."
The dispute centers on the most recent US strike on a boat in the Caribbean. President Petro said his government had reason to believe that one of the vessels bombed was carrying Colombian citizens.
“Evidence indicates that the last vessel bombed was Colombian and carried Colombian citizens on board,” Petro asserted.
He then called for the families of those on board the vessel to come forward.
“I hope their relatives step up and report what happened.”
The US explicitly stated that it expected Petro to publicly retract his "unfounded and reprehensible statement," suggesting such a move would allow both nations to "resume a productive dialogue aimed at building a strong and prosperous future."
US officials have strongly defended the military actions carried out near Venezuela’s coasts. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Friday that the US attacked what he described as a "drug trafficking vessel" in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing all four people on board. This was at least the fourth US military attack in the region since September, all targeting vessels that the White House claims are affiliated with drug trafficking.
On Wednesday, Petro declared that a "new scenario of war has emerged" in the Caribbean, a message he says he plans to convey to European governments during his visit to Brussels this week.
The heightened tensions between the US and Colombia began with the US deployment of warships in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuelan shores. While Washington defends the military buildup as an anti-drug trafficking mission, Caracas views it as a regime-change effort aimed at seizing the country's natural resources
The US has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of involvement in drug trafficking, doubling the reward for his arrest to $50 million – accusations that he vehemently denies.
