Colombia president claims U.S. bombed Colombian boat in strike off Venezuela

Colombia President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. of bombing a Colombian boat "with Colombian citizens inside" as part of its recent campaign of striking alleged drug smugglers off of Venezuela.Why it matters: The Trump administration has conducted a series of deadly strikes in the Caribbean Sea without identifying who it's actually killing, beyond its claim they're all "narco-terrorists." Democrats have decried the strikes as illegal, and Petro is now claiming the strikes have killed Colombian citizens, alongside others.What he's saying: "A new war zone has opened up: the Caribbean," Petro wrote on X Wednesday in reply to a post from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) about efforts in Congress to block Trump's strikes. "Evidence shows that the last boat bombed was Colombian, with Colombian citizens inside. I hope their families come forward and file a complaint," Petro continued. "There is no war on smuggling, there is a war for oil and it must be stopped by the world. The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean," Petro said,Petro has not offered any evidence for his claim. The Colombian embassy in Washington and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Between the lines: Colombia has historically been one of the closest U.S. partners in Latin America, though relations are strained under Petro's leftist administration, which is aligning itself closely with Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro in his current standoff with the U.S.Driving the news: It's unclear whether the "last boat bombed" Petro referred to was one of the four the Pentagon has announced, or an additional strike. In all four known incidents, multiple people were killed. The White House has not identified any of the individuals involved. Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to say whether her department had provided any advice on the legality of the strikes during a congressional hearing on Tuesday.The big picture: The official rationale for the large U.S. naval presence off of Venezuela is drug interdiction, but President Trump and his team have made clear that they also want to see Maduro — who has a $50 million U.S. bounty on his head — removed from office.

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