BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered his nation’s security forces Tuesday to stop sharing intelligence with the United States, until the Trump administration stops its strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, as relations deteriorate between the nations that were once close partners in the fight against drug trafficking.
In a message on X, Petro wrote that Colombia’s military must immediately end “communications and other agreements with U.S. security agencies” until the U.S. ceases its attacks on speedboats suspected of carrying drugs, that critics have likened to extrajudicial executions.
Petro wrote that “the fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people.” It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of information Colombia will stop sharing with the United States. The White House had no immediate response to Petro’s latest statements.
At least 75 people have been killed by the U.S. military in strikes in international waters since August, according to figures supplied by the Trump administration. The strikes began in the southern Caribbean, near Venezuela’s shores, but have shifted recently to the eastern Pacific, where the U.S. has targeted boats off Mexico.
Petro has called for U.S. President Donald Trump to be investigated for war crimes over the strikes, which have affected citizens of Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.
The leftist leader has long been a critic of U.S. drug policy, and has accused the Trump administration of going after peasants growing coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, instead of targeting major drug traffickers and money launderers. On Sunday, Petro said that he met with the family of a Colombian fisherman who was allegedly killed in one of the strikes.
“He may have been carrying fish, or he may have been carrying cocaine, but he had not been sentenced to death” Petro said during a summit between Latin American and European Union leaders hosted by Colombia on Sunday. “There was no need to murder him.”
The Trump administration has accused Petro of being soft on traffickers, and has criticized the Colombian president’s decision to spare Colombian rebel leaders involved in the drug trade form extradition to the United States.
In October, the administration placed financial sanctions on Petro and members of his family, over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade.
Petro “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement after the sanctions were issued Oct 24. “President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.”
The heightened tensions between the United States and Colombia are taking place as the U.S. ramps up its naval presence in the southern Caribbean, with eight warships, a submarine, fighter jets and marines deployed to the region. An aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, is also expected to arrive in the Caribbean this month.
Venezuela’s government has described the naval buildup as a threat to its sovereignty, with officials in that nation saying that the U.S. military is preparing to launch strikes against the embattled government of Nicolas Maduro.
The Trump administration has said its deployment is aimed at curbing drug traffickers, though Trump has also hinted there could be strikes on targets within Venezuela, whose leader has been described by officials in Washington as the head of a drug cartel.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced Tuesday that military personnel, members of a civilian militia, police officers and ruling-party organizers would be mobilized for a training exercise to protect the country’s airspace. He delivered his remarks, broadcast on state television, standing by a surface-to-air missile system in a military base in the capital, Caracas, but no training activities could be seen elsewhere in the city.
