Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticized President Donald Trump for the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and for conducting lethal strikes against boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking, as tensions between the United States and Latin America continue to rise.
Petro, in an interview with NBC News, defended his decision this week to order Colombian security forces to stop sharing intelligence with the United States until the U.S. military halts its lethal strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels.
The Trump administration has faced scrutiny over the legality of the strikes, claiming the U.S. is in an "armed conflict" with Latin American drug cartels linked to Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed concerns Wednesday raised by several U.S. allies as reports surfaced that the United Kingdom had halted certain intelligence sharing with Washington over the strikes, as London considers the attacks illegal and wants to avoid involvement.
Colombia, likewise, would not "pass on the information because we would be collaborating with a crime against humanity," Petro told NBC, calling Trump a "barbarian" who "wants to frighten us."
Petro said the purpose of nations sharing intelligence is "not for killing," but declined to say whether the boats targeted by the U.S. were carrying drugs.
"Maybe or maybe not. We do not know," he said. "In due process, in the civilized treatment of people, they are seized and detained."
U.S. military operations targeting drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific have resulted in at least 70 deaths and the destruction of 19 boats across 16 strikes.
Petro added that even if the vessels were carrying narcotics, the true traffickers are rarely the ones piloting them.
"They are poor boatmen … hired in their poverty by the gangsters. But gangsters don't sit on the boats," Petro said. "So when one of those missiles arrives, it kills that boatman. It doesn't kill the drug trafficker."
The White House has argued that these lethal strikes do not constitute "hostilities" requiring congressional approval under the War Powers Resolution.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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