Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the United States of committing “murder” following an airstrike on a ship in Colombian waters in September.
In a social media post, Petro accused the United States of violating his country’s sovereignty and killing a Colombian fisherman.
“The Colombian boat was drifting and received a distress call due to engine failure,” he wrote on He added, “We are waiting for an explanation from the U.S. government.”
This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. attacked a “drug-carrying submarine” and that two people were killed.
President Trump said on social media that “Two people were killed in an attack on a U.S. ship on Thursday,” and that U.S. intelligence officials confirmed the ship was “mostly filled with fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”
The attack was at least the sixth U.S. attack on a ship in the Caribbean in recent weeks. This is the first time survivors have been reported.
Regarding the previous attack last September, Pedro wrote on Saturday
“The fisherman Alejandro Carranza had nothing to do with the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing. The Colombian boat was drifting and received a distress signal due to engine failure.”
Alejandro Carranza reportedly died September 15 when U.S. forces opened fire on his boat while fishing in the Caribbean.
President Trump has defended the ongoing boat attacks as aimed at stemming the flow of drugs into the U.S. from Latin America, but his administration has provided no evidence or details about the identity of the vessels or those on board.
UN-appointed human rights experts described the US airstrikes as “extrajudicial executions.”
At least 27 people have been killed in five boat attacks off Venezuela, according to figures released by the U.S. government.
President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday that the submarine targeted in the attack was “purposely built to transport large quantities of drugs.”
“This is not a group of innocent people. I don’t know that many people with submarines, and it was an attack on a submarine that was carrying drugs and was loaded,” he said, adding that no American troops were injured.
The US president also said the two survivors would be extradited to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia.
Sources familiar with the matter said they were transferred to a US Navy ship, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
In recent weeks, Trump has stepped up threats against Venezuela’s leadership over claims that the country is sending drugs to the United States. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused President Trump of trying to turn the South American country into a “American colony.”
President Trump previously told reporters that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and was considering an attack on Venezuelan soil.
Narco-subs have become a popular method of transporting drugs because they are largely undetected and can sink after delivery. They are often homemade and constructed using fiberglass and plywood.
The United States and other coastal nations have intercepted some of these submarines before.
