BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday the latest vessel in the Caribbean bombed by the United States was Colombian and had Colombian citizens aboard.
The strike, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, brings Colombia into the fray in a campaign meant to target drug trafficking vessels off the coast of Venezuela.
“Indications show that the last boat bombed was Colombian with Colombian citizens inside of it,” Petro said in a post on X.
“The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
There have been at least four such strikes in recent weeks and the Trump administration says 21 people have been killed in the operations. The attacks have inflamed tensions in the region and Washington called off diplomatic outreach to Venezuela on Monday.
On Wednesday, Venezuela also began new military exercises in the coastal states of La Guaira and Carabobo.
Petro, who is currently in Belgium meeting with European leaders, was replying to a post by U.S. Senator Adam Schiff who said he would vote to block strikes against vessels in the Caribbean.
Colombia’s presidency did not immediately respond to a request for more details.
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Alexander Villegas in Bogota; Additional reporting by Gram Slatterly and Phillip Stewart in Washington; Editing by Kylie Madry, Sarah Morland and Deepa Babington)
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