Human rights priority – Petro wrote: “The fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people.”
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the nation’s security forces Tuesday to stop sharing intelligence with the United States until Washington ceases strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean. In a message on X, Petro wrote that Colombia’s military must immediately end “communications and other agreements with U.S. security agencies” and emphasized that “the fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people.”
At least 75 people have been killed in U.S. strikes in international waters since August. Petro called for President Donald Trump to be investigated for war crimes, saying civilians in Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago were affected. “He may have been carrying fish, or he may have been carrying cocaine, but he had not been sentenced to death,” Petro said of a Colombian fisherman allegedly killed in a strike.
Tensions escalate as the U.S. increases its naval presence in the southern Caribbean, while Venezuela mobilizes military personnel and civilian militias in response.