Colombia President calls US attacks against suspected act of drug tyranny

US air strikes on alleged Caribbean drug trafficking boats are a “act of tyranny,” Colombia President Gustavo Petro told BBC, where he also called on criminal proceedings against US officials if investigations found that Colombians were killed in attacks.

President Donald Trump has thrown strikes that have reported that they have killed 17 since they started this month as needed to stop the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs in the United States.

However, legal experts and legislators have questioned whether they violate international human rights laws.

“Why shoot a rocket if you can just stop the boat and arrest the crew?” said Petro. “This is what a person would call murder.”

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Petro said there should be a “zero death” when stopping speed boats, which are thought to be involved in drug smuggling.

“We have a long history of cooperation with US agencies and other agencies to perform cocaine seas,” he said. “No one has died so far. No need to kill anyone.”

He added that the principle of proportionality of force was violated “if you use more than a gun.”

Strikes in international waters have focused mainly on the neighboring Venezuela of Colombia, according to the Trump administration, but the United States has provided little details about the goals and the killed persons, and its reports that the members of the Tren de Aragua gang were on the first attacked boat.

Democratic MPs in Washington have requested answers from the White House about the legality of strikes, which experts of the United Nations have identified as out -of -court executions.

Asked about Petro’s comments, the White House said Trump is “ready to use every element of US power to stop drugs from flooding to our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”

In the interview held in New York, where dignitaries from all over the world gathered for an annual meeting of the United Nations, Petro also accused the Trump administration of humiliation of its people and stated that the South American nations like him would not “worship the king”.

After returning to service in January, Trump intensified his conversations, as well as his trade policies throughout Latin America, as he began a major deportation of people who say they illegally crossed the southern border of the United States.

Trump has also identified several drug trafficking organizations and criminal groups in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America as terrorist organizations.

Like Tren de Aragua, Trump heads to the Sun cartel, a group that the United States claims, is led by Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and other high -ranking Venezuelan officials, some of the country’s military or intelligence services.

The US military has moved to strengthen their strengths in the Southern Caribbean over the last two months, including through the deployment of additional naval ships and thousands of marines and sailors in the United States.

Petroleum has repeatedly saved with his colleague in the United States. Pressing if he is rising now, the existence of his country is current, Petro said Trump isolates the United States with his foreign policy.

“Trump has already offended me during a presidential campaign, he called me a terrorist,” he said.