Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered his military on Tuesday to suspend intelligence sharing with the US over its bombing of alleged drug boats in the region.
In response to a report about the UK suspending intelligence sharing with the US in the Caribbean over the illegal bombing campaign, Petro said in a post on X that he was ordering “all levels of the public security forces’ intelligence to suspend the sending of communications and other dealings with US security agencies.”
“Such a measure will be maintained as long as the missile attack on boats in the Caribbean persists. The fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people,” Petro added.
Responding to criticism of his order the following day, Petro said that if communications with the US “only serve to kill fishermen with missiles, it is not only irrational, but a crime against humanity, insofar as the murder of civilians is systematic.”
Petro was recently sanctioned by the Trump administration following his harsh criticism of the US strikes on boats in the region. The administration accused him of allowing drug cartels to “flourish,” allegations the Colombian leader strongly denied.
Petro is also conducting his own military campaign, having ordered airstrikes against an ex-FARC splinter group that’s known for drug trafficking. The Colombian military claimed that the attack on the suspected rebel camp killed 19 fighters.
While Petro has been in a spat with the Trump administration, the US and Colombia are long-time military partners, with Washington designating Bogota as a “major non-NATO ally” in 2022. Several other US allies have distanced themselves from the US strikes on boats in the region, including the UK, Canada, and France.
“We have observed with concern the military operations in the Caribbean region, because they violate international law and because France has a presence in this region through its overseas territories, where more than a million of our compatriots reside,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Tuesday. “They could therefore be affected by the instability caused by any escalation, which we obviously want to avoid.”
