U.S. officials confirmed that there were Colombians aboard a vessel struck by Washington as part of the Trump administration's strategy to pressure Venezuela's authoritarian government, according to a new report.
Concretely, the officials told The New York Times that Colombian nationals were aboard at least one of the boats struck in the past weeks. So far the Trump administration has made reference to four strikes in the region.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the latest strike, which took place last Friday, was aimed at a Colombian vessel and had Colombian citizens on it. The officials did not specify which strike they were referring to.
The White House rejected Petro's claim and slammed him, with an official telling CBS News that the Trump administration "looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement so that we can return to a productive dialogue on building a strong, prosperous future for the people of [the] United States and Colombia."
Petro has not retracted his claim. He has also asked the White House to provide information about the strike to refute him.
"There is no war against smuggling. It's a war for oil and it must be stopped by the world. The attack is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean," Petro added when denouncing the strike.
Petro has escalated his rhetoric on the matter over the past days. On Tuesday he also claimed the U.S. will invade Venezuela following a report about President Donald Trump ending all diplomatic outreach to the South American country.
"The negotiation should not have revolved around free oil. It should have revolved around, like Biden said but lacked audacity, around free elections, a political agreement among Venezuelans and the end of the blockage. Now we're headed to an invasion based on lies," Petro said.
He was citing a report by The New York Times claiming that Trump ended all diplomatic outreach to Venezuela, instructing envoy Richard Grenell to cease all efforts as he grows frustrated with authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro's reluctance to relinquish power.
Petro also criticized Hegseth after the strike, saying that the people on the boat were not "narco-terrorists," but "poor young men from the Caribbean islands trying to survive."
"By bombing them with missiles like in Gaza, you are murdering the Caribbean people," Petro said. He went on to claim that what the Trump administration really wants is "Venezuela and Guyana's oil, that's it."
"The use of anti-economic and murderous missiles has another goal. You want to harass us to get the oil for free," Petro added.
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