Colombia to suspend intelligence sharing with US over boat strikes

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 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 target 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.

哥伦比亚波哥大——哥伦比亚总统古斯塔沃·佩特罗周二下令该国安全部队停止与美国分享情报，直到特朗普政府停止对加勒比地区涉嫌贩毒者的打击行动。此前，哥伦比亚和美国曾是打击毒品走私的紧密伙伴，但两国关系正在恶化。

在 X 上发布的一条消息中，佩特罗写道，哥伦比亚军方必须立即停止与美国安全机构的“沟通和其他协议”，直到美国停止对涉嫌运毒快艇的袭击，批评人士将这种袭击比作法外处决。

佩特罗写道，“打击毒品犯罪必须服从于加勒比人民的人权。”目前尚不清楚哥伦比亚将停止与美国分享哪些信息。白宫尚未对佩特罗的最新声明作出回应。

根据特朗普政府提供的数据，自8月以来，美国军方在国际水域的袭击中至少造成75人死亡。这些袭击最初发生在加勒比海南部靠近委内瑞拉海岸的海域，但最近已转移到东太平洋，美国在那里以墨西哥附近的船只为目标。

佩特罗呼吁对美国总统唐纳德·特朗普就此次空袭所犯的战争罪行展开调查，此次空袭影响了委内瑞拉、厄瓜多尔、哥伦比亚以及特立尼达和多巴哥的公民。

这位左翼领导人长期以来一直批评美国的毒品政策，并指责特朗普政府打击种植古柯（可卡因的主要原料）的农民，而不是打击大型毒品走私贩和洗钱者。周日，佩特罗表示，他会见了据称在一次打击行动中丧生的一名哥伦比亚渔民的家属。

“他可能携带的是鱼，也可能携带的是可卡因，但他并没有被判处死刑，”佩特罗在周日由哥伦比亚主办的拉美和欧盟领导人峰会上说。“没有必要杀害他。”

特朗普政府指责佩特罗对毒贩态度软弱，并批评哥伦比亚总统决定不将参与毒品交易的哥伦比亚反叛领导人引渡到美国。

10 月，美国政府以参与全球毒品交易为由，对佩特罗及其家人实施了金融制裁。

财政部长斯科特·贝森特在10月24日制裁措施发布后发表声明称，佩特罗“放任贩毒集团蓬勃发展，并拒绝制止这种活动”。“特朗普总统正在采取强有力的行动来保护我们的国家，并明确表示我们绝不容忍毒品走私进入我国。”

随着美国加强在加勒比海南部地区的军事部署，美哥伦比亚之间的紧张局势加剧。目前，美国已向该地区部署了八艘军舰、一艘潜艇、战斗机和海军陆战队。预计“杰拉尔德·福特”号航空母舰也将于本月抵达加勒比海地区。

委内瑞拉政府称美国的海军集结是对其主权的威胁，该国官员表示，美国军方正准备对陷入困境的尼古拉斯·马杜罗政府发动袭击。

特朗普政府表示，此次部署旨在遏制毒品走私，但特朗普也暗示可能会对委内瑞拉境内的目标进行打击，华盛顿官员称委内瑞拉领导人是贩毒集团的首脑。

委内瑞拉国防部长弗拉基米尔·帕德里诺·洛佩斯周二宣布，将动员军方人员、民兵成员、警察和执政党组织者进行训练演习，以保护国家领空。他在首都加拉加斯一处军事基地的地对空导弹系统旁发表了讲话，并通过国家电视台播出。但在加拉加斯市的其他地方，并未看到任何训练活动。