A diplomatic crisis has erupted between Colombia and the United States after Colombian President Gustavo Petro publicly accused the U.S. of murdering a fisherman during a military strike on a vessel allegedly transporting illegal drugs. In a swift and forceful retaliation, President Trump announced on Sunday that his administration would immediately cut financial aid to Colombia and prepare to impose new tariffs on its imports.
This heated exchange highlights escalating regional tensions, particularly concerning the extensive U.S. military presence in the Caribbean. This deployment, officially aimed at Venezuela, has led to numerous fatalities in recent weeks, with the Trump administration asserting that those killed were on vessels illicitly transporting drugs from Venezuela.
Despite these serious allegations, the U.S. administration has offered no concrete evidence to substantiate its claims, relying instead on generalized intelligence assessments and select declassified video clips of the incidents. Legal experts contend that such actions constitute illegal killings, emphasizing that military forces are not permitted to target civilians who are not actively engaged in hostilities or posing an immediate threat.
“U.S. government officials have committed murder and brazenly violated our sovereignty in our territorial waters,” President Petro declared on social media. He identified the victim of the mid-September attack as Alejandro Carranza, whom he described as a “lifelong fisherman” whose boat was reportedly damaged and adrift—likely within Colombian maritime boundaries—when the strike occurred. Independent verification of Mr. Carranza’s identity and the condition of his vessel was not immediately available.
Caption: President Gustavo Petro of Colombia addressing the United Nations in New York City.
In response, Mr. Trump vehemently criticized President Petro, accusing him of failing to combat illicit drug production effectively. Trump branded Petro an “illegal drug dealer” who exhibited “a fresh mouth toward America.” He further declared that the United States would cease all aid payments to Colombia, a nation historically among the top recipients of U.S. anti-narcotics funding. Later, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump confirmed plans to unveil new tariffs on Colombian imports on Monday.
Their relationship has been notably turbulent since the outset of the second Trump administration.
Only days into his second term in January, Mr. Trump had already threatened Colombia with severe tariffs. This threat came after President Petro attempted to prevent Trump’s administration from using military aircraft to deport thousands of migrants to Colombia.
Caption: Migrants traveling from Panama to Colombia after unsuccessful attempts to enter the United States.
Adding to the diplomatic strain, the U.S. revoked President Petro’s visa during the United Nations General Assembly in September. This action followed Petro’s controversial call for American soldiers to defy Mr. Trump at a pro-Palestinian rally held in New York.
The full ramifications of Trump’s latest aid cuts remain uncertain. His administration had already significantly reduced financial assistance to Colombia earlier this year, mirroring similar reductions across Latin America.
Initially, Colombia was slated to receive over $400 million in aid at the beginning of the year, as reported by Adam Isacson, Director of Defense Oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America. However, previous cuts by the Trump administration had already reduced this figure to approximately one-fourth of the original amount.
Although counter-narcotics cooperation between Colombia and the U.S. persists, overall American assistance has dwindled considerably since the era of “Plan Colombia.” This early 2000s initiative, which concluded a decade prior, focused on combating both drug cartels and leftist insurgencies.
Beyond direct aid impacts, this ongoing dispute highlights the potential for Colombia to face intensified repercussions from the extensive U.S. military operations in the Caribbean.
Colombia maintains its position as the world’s primary producer of cocaine and a significantly larger force in the global drug trade compared to Venezuela. Venezuela, in contrast, produces only negligible quantities of cocaine and plays virtually no role in the production or smuggling of fentanyl.
Caption: FARC rebels in Yarí, Colombia, photographed in 2023. U.S. aid to Colombia has decreased significantly since “Plan Colombia,” a decade-old initiative to combat drug cartels and leftist insurgencies.
Following Mr. Trump’s announcement to halt aid, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quickly revealed another U.S. strike against a vessel. Hegseth alleged the boat was linked to the National Liberation Army, a Colombian rebel group, and was transporting narcotics. However, he offered no supporting evidence for these assertions regarding the Friday attack.
This significant deployment of U.S. forces, involving approximately 10,000 troops, numerous military aircraft, and ships, marks the largest in the region in decades. While publicly framed by the Trump administration as a counter-drug and counter-terrorism operation, officials have privately confirmed that its primary objective is to destabilize and remove Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
President Petro, a leftist and former urban guerrilla who assumed office in 2022, has consistently voiced support for Mr. Maduro amidst the ongoing crisis between Washington and Caracas. His readiness to openly confront Mr. Trump stands in stark contrast to the more reserved approaches taken by most other Latin American leaders dealing with the Trump administration.
Within Colombia, President Petro’s stance has elicited diverse reactions. Vicky Dávila, a prominent journalist and conservative presidential hopeful, publicly supported Mr. Trump on Sunday, stating on social media that “Petro and his corrupt Government have favored drug trafficking in every way possible.”
Conversely, Senator Iván Cepeda, a staunch supporter of President Petro, countered that Mr. Trump should instead address the significant demand for illegal drugs within the United States. “We have a dignified president, one who does not kneel and who demands that the United States take responsibility for its role in the drug trafficking problem,” Mr. Cepeda asserted.
Caption: A laborer in La Paz, Colombia, seen in 2021, carrying sacks of coca leaves.
Over the weekend, President Petro utilized social media to press his attorney general to assist the family of Alejandro Carranza, the fisherman killed in the September attack, in pursuing legal claims against the United States.
Petro proposed that the Carranza family coordinate their claims with a Trinidadian family, who similarly allege a relative was killed in a separate U.S. military strike.
While the U.S. Caribbean campaign primarily targets suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers, these military strikes have resulted in casualties and injuries among individuals from various other nations.
Last week, in the sixth U.S. airstrike of its kind, 34-year-old Colombian Jeison Obando Pérez and an Ecuadorian citizen were caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, both survived the incident.
They were aboard a semi-submersible vessel that was destroyed last Thursday. U.S. forces rescued them, and they received initial medical treatment on a U.S. Navy ship in the Caribbean.
Mr. Obando Pérez was repatriated to Colombia on Saturday and is currently hospitalized with brain trauma, requiring ventilator support, according to Armando Benedetti, Colombia’s Minister of the Interior, in a Saturday night social media post. Benedetti added that upon regaining consciousness, Pérez would face legal proceedings for drug trafficking.
The second survivor from Thursday’s attack was returned to Ecuador on Saturday for medical evaluation.