Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the US of committing “homicide” after hanging what President Donald Trump has referred to as a “drug-carrying submarine”.
Writing on social media, Trump stated two individuals have been killed within the US assault on the vessel, which he stated US intelligence confirmed was “loaded up with principally Fentanyl, and different unlawful narcotics”.
Petro responded on X, saying: “The Colombian boat was adrift and had its misery sign up attributable to an engine failure,” when it was struck. He added: “We await explanations from the US authorities.”
Thursday’s attack is at the very least the sixth US strike on ships within the Caribbean Sea in current weeks. It’s the first time survivors have been reported.
Trump has defended the continuing boat assaults, saying they’re geared toward stemming the movement of medicine from Latin America into the US, however his authorities has not offered proof or particulars in regards to the identities of the vessels or these on board.
UN-appointed human rights specialists have described the US strikes as “extrajudicial executions”.
Not less than 27 individuals have been killed within the prior 5 boat strikes within the waters off Venezuela, in accordance with figures launched by the US administration.
Trump wrote on his Reality Social platform on Friday that the submarine focused within the newest assault was “constructed particularly for the transportation of large quantities of medicine”.
“This was not an harmless group of individuals. I do not know too many individuals who’ve submarines, and that was an assault on a drug-carrying, loaded submarine,” he stated, including that no US navy personnel had been injured.
The US president additionally stated two individuals who survived can be returned to their international locations of origin, Ecuador and Colombia.
Petro confirmed Colombia had obtained one of many survivors of the assault, saying: “We’re glad that he’s alive and he will probably be processed in accordance with the legal guidelines.”
The 2 survivors have been rescued by a US navy helicopter after which shuttled onto a US warship within the Caribbean, unnamed US officers advised US media earlier.
In current weeks, Trump has ramped up threats in opposition to Venezuela’s management over claims that the nation is sending medicine to the US. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has accused Trump of making an attempt to make the South American nation “an American colony”.
Trump earlier advised reporters that he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, and that he was contemplating launching assaults on Venezuelan soil.
Narco-subs have turn out to be a preferred technique to transport medicine as they will go largely undetected, and may be sunk after supply. They’re typically selfmade and constructed utilizing fibreglass and plywood.
The US, in addition to different coastal nations, have beforehand intercepted a few of these subs.
