US targets rebel-linked ship amid Trump’s tirade against Colombia’s Petro
smartcybers786@gmail.com 
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a meeting with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman (not pictured) at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, US, February 24, 2025. —Reuters
#targets #rebellinked #ship #Trumps #tirade #Colombias #Petro
U.S. forces attacked a ship linked to a leftist Colombian rebel group, Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett said on Sunday, the same day President Donald Trump called Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” and said payments to the South American nation would stop.
Trump’s comments marked a new low in relations between Bogota and Washington, which have soured since Trump returned to office in January and since his administration launched a series of strikes on ships allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean.
Hagseth wrote on X that the Pentagon had destroyed a vessel on Friday in the “USSOST COM area of responsibility” and killed three people, including the Caribbean.
He said the ship was affiliated with the left-wing rebel group the National Liberation Army and was involved in illicit drug trafficking, without providing evidence to support the claim.
The Pentagon said it had nothing to add beyond Higgsett’s initial post.
Colombia condemns Trump’s remarks
Colombia’s foreign ministry called Trump’s statements offensive and a direct threat to its sovereignty, and vowed to seek international support in defense of Petro and the country’s sovereignty.
“These accusations represent a very serious act and damage the dignity of the Colombian president,” he said in a statement.
Heggsett’s post comes hours after Trump slammed Petro on social media and said the U.S. would end massive payments and subsidies to Colombia.
“The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, is an illegal drug lord who actively encourages mass production of drugs in large and small sectors throughout Colombia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“The purpose of this drug production is the mass sale of the product in the United States, causing death, destruction and destruction,” Trump wrote.
Reuters could not immediately establish which payment Trump was referring to. Colombia was once among the largest recipients of US aid in the Western Hemisphere. Still, the flow of money was abruptly halted by the shuttering of USAID, the US government’s humanitarian aid arm.
The US State Department referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to questions.
Full relationships
Last month, the United States revoked Petro’s visa after he joined a pro-Palestinian protest in New York and urged US troops to disobey Trump’s orders.
The US administration’s deadly attacks on boats in the Caribbean have also angered Colombians. Many legal experts and human rights activists have condemned the extraordinary series of military actions, with Amnesty International calling it a massacre on the high seas.
Earlier this month, Petro said a strike hit a Colombian ship, a charge denied by the Trump administration.
Petro condemned the recent bombing, saying the boat did not belong to the National Liberation Army but to a “humble family”. He also pushed back on Trump’s remarks.
Petro responded on X, “Mr. Trump, Colombia is never rude to America … but you are rude and ignorant of Colombia.”
Colombia is struggling with its long-standing drug problems. Last year, Petro promised to crack down on the country’s coca-growing regions with massive social and military intervention, but that strategy has met with little success.
In September, Trump named countries such as Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia and Venezuela among those that the United States believes have “failed” to uphold countermeasures agreements over the past year.
