Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has denounced recent US airstrikes on boats accused of drug trafficking in the Caribbean, calling them an “act of tyranny.”
The attacks, reportedly responsible for multiple deaths since the beginning of the month, were ordered as part of Washington’s push to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States. President Donald Trump defended the strikes as necessary to protect Americans, but critics have raised serious concerns about their legality under international law.
Petro questioned why lethal force was used at all, arguing that stopping and seizing the boats would have been enough. “Why launch a missile if you could simply stop the boat and arrest the crew? That is murder,” he said. He stressed that operations against smugglers had been carried out for years without any loss of life, making the airstrikes unnecessary and disproportionate.
The Colombian leader also accused the US administration of humiliating his people and warned that Latin American nations would not bow to Washington’s aggressive stance. He insisted that his criticism did not isolate Colombia but rather highlighted how the US was alienating itself with its foreign policy choices.
The airstrikes have mainly targeted Venezuelan waters, with Washington claiming they hit criminal gangs. However, little detail has been provided about those killed, and international human rights experts have described the killings as extrajudicial executions.
Petro, who has clashed repeatedly with Trump, argued that such actions violated basic principles of human rights and dignity. He emphasized that Colombia has long worked with US agencies to intercept drug shipments without resorting to deadly violence.
As tensions rise, the US has reinforced its military presence in the southern Caribbean, deploying warships and thousands of troops. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to brand several Latin American groups as terrorist organizations and pushed harsher policies across the region.
For Petro, the strikes represent not just a political clash but a moral one. “There is no need to kill anyone,” he said firmly, warning that his country would not submit to heavy-handed tactics.