Colombia’s president says boat struck by US was carrying Colombians

The White House deemed the claim made by Colombian President Gustavo Petro that a boat recently bombed by the United States was “Colombian with Colombian citizens inside” to be “baseless.”

In recent weeks, the United States has killed 21 people by striking at least four vessels in the Caribbean. According to the US administration, “narco-traffickers” were the target of the strikes in international waters.

However, it hasn’t offered any proof or information about who or what is on board, and the strikes have drawn criticism from nations in the area due to worries that they violate international law. A bill that would have prohibited President Donald Trump from deploying military force against the boats was defeated by the US Senate on Wednesday.

As some lawmakers attempted to question the use of the armed forces in Congress, Petro responded to a post on X by US Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat, who stated that he would vote to prevent strikes against vessels in the Caribbean.

According to the president of Colombia, a “new war scenario has opened up: the Caribbean”. “Indications indicate that the last boat bombed was Colombian with Colombian citizens inside,” Petro continued.

“I hope their families come forward and report it. There is no war against smuggling; there is a war for oil and it must be stopped by the world. The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Petro did not provide further details about the alleged identities of those on board. The US has not commented on the identities of the individuals killed in the strikes.

The White House said in a statement that it “looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement”.

The US was “committed to close co-operation on a range of shared priorities, including regional security and stability,” despite the two countries’ “policy differences,” according to the statement.

The United States claims that its attacks, which started on September 2, targeted ships off the coast of Venezuela that it believes were transporting illicit substances. By a vote of 48 to 51, the Senate rejected the bill that would have forced Trump to obtain congressional approval for the strikes. Tim Kaine and Schiff, both Democrats, had introduced it. The majority of the vote was split along partisan lines.