Vessel hit in U.S. strike may have carried Colombian nationals

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that early evidence suggests the boat destroyed in a recent U.S. military strike in the Caribbean was Colombian and may have been carrying Colombian nationals.

“Indications show that the last boat bombed was Colombian, with Colombian citizens inside,” Petro wrote on social media on Wednesday. “I hope their families come forward and report it.”

The comment follows a series of U.S. military operations in the Caribbean targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels.

Last week, the U.S. Department of War confirmed that four people described as “narco-terrorists” were killed in a strike on a vessel in international waters, the fourth such confirmed operation under Washington’s expanded anti-cartel campaign.

President Donald Trump previously said the campaign had forced traffickers to abandon sea routes, suggesting future operations may shift to land.

“They’re not coming in by sea anymore,” Trump said during the Navy’s 250th anniversary celebration. “So now we’ll have to start looking about the land because they’ll be forced to go by land.”

The operations are part of an ongoing effort to dismantle networks linked to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization. The group is accused of trafficking drugs, weapons, and people across Latin America under the direction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

U.S. officials have not commented on Petro’s statement or confirmed whether the latest strike involved Colombian nationals.