"Although Gustavo Petro, the loquacious Colombian president, maintained an eloquent silence, his American counterpart, Donald Trump, raised the already high tone of his attacks against a man he has most recently described as a thug and a bad guy, after accusing him of being a drug trafficking leader over the weekend. He did so on Wednesday in the Oval Office, during a press conference following his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte."
"Late this morning, Secretary of Defense (now relabeled Secretary of War) Pete Hegseth had announced a new extrajudicial attack, the eighth, against a suspected drug boat. It brought two novelties: it was the first time the Trump administration acknowledged that one of these operations had taken place off the Colombian coast, and, unlike the previous ones, the military killed the two crew members while they were sailing in the Pacific Ocean."
"A few hours later, the same official revealed a second attack in the Pacific, in which he did not mention Colombia this time, but he did resort to the same narrative: calling the victims narco-terrorists and comparing them to members of Al Qaeda. We will find them and kill them until the threat to the American people is extinguished, he said."
US-Colombia relations have rapidly worsened amid public accusations by US President Donald Trump against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, including labeling him a thug and alleging drug trafficking involvement. The United States suspended payments to Colombia and threatened serious action. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced extrajudicial attacks on suspected drug boats, including the first acknowledged operation off the Colombian coast that killed two crew members in the Pacific Ocean. Hegseth described victims as narco-terrorists and compared them to Al Qaeda, declaring an intent to "find them and kill them" until the threat is extinguished. Trump justified the actions invoking a war on drugs under a 1970s law.
Read at english.elpais.com
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