Colombia accuses US of killing ‘lifelong fisherman’ in boat strike

President Gustavo Petro has denied that the man was smuggling drugs

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the US of killing an innocent fisherman during what President Donald Trump described as a strike on a drug-smuggling vessel.

The US military has destroyed several boats in the Caribbean since September as part of Trump’s campaign to eliminate “narcoterrorists” trafficking cocaine and fentanyl.

According to Petro, a Colombian “lifelong fisherman” was killed on September 16. “US government officials have committed murder and violated our sovereignty in our territorial waters. Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to drug traffickers and his daily activity was fishing,” Petro wrote on X on Saturday.

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He added that the boat was drifting due to an engine failure and had sent a distress signal. “We are waiting for an explanation from the US government,” he wrote.

Petro has a longstanding feud with Trump, whom he accused of violating human rights during his crackdown on illegal migrants. Last month, the US revoked Petro’s visa after he called on American soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.

On Saturday, Trump said a Colombian national and an Ecuadorian national picked up from a “drug-carrying submarine” would be deported to their home countries “for detention and prosecution.” He said earlier that the US destroyed the vessel, killing two of the four “known narcoterrorists” on board.