BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro On Wednesday, he said there were “indications”. the last small boat was attacked U.S. troops were transporting Colombian nationals off the coast of Venezuela.
“A new front in the war has opened – the Caribbean,” Petro wrote on social platform X. “According to the signs, the last ship to be bombed was a Colombian ship with Colombian nationals on board.”
He gave no explanation as to what those signs were. “We hope their families will come forward and report it,” he added.
Neither Petro’s office nor Colombia’s Defense Ministry immediately responded to requests for additional information.
The U.S. government also has not identified who was on the boat or the three boats that were attacked earlier.
Last Friday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced a strike He was accused of transporting drugs off the coast of Venezuela in a small boat. He said four men were killed in the attack, but gave no details about who they were or what group they belonged to.
of first military attack US President Donald Trump claimed the boat was operated by the Torren de Aragua criminal organization, which operated out of a Venezuelan prison. listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States At the beginning of this year.
Then, on September 15, President Trump announced: The US military conducted an airstrike He was on a ship believed to be transporting drugs from Venezuela. Three crew members were also killed in the attack.
On September 19th, President Trump said in a social media post: another attack The attack was carried out against a vessel “affiliated with a designated terrorist organization that engages in drug trafficking in USSOUTHCOM’s territory,” resulting in the deaths of three people.
President Trump told U.S. lawmakers that he treats drug traffickers like this: illegal combatant And military power was needed to fight them.
Earlier on Wednesday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino told military leaders that the U.S. government knows that drug trafficking allegations used to support recent actions in the Caribbean are false and that their true purpose is to “force regime change” in the South American country. He added that the Venezuelan government does not view the deployment of US warships as a mere “propaganda move” and warned the public about the possibility of escalation.
“I want to warn the people: The irrationality of how the American empire is run is not normal, and we must prepare,” Padrino said at a televised rally. “It’s anti-political, anti-human, warmongering, rude and vulgar.”
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