Colombian president cuts security ties with U.S. over Caribbean missile strikes

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered intelligence and security agencies to suspend all communication and cooperation with their U.S. counterparts, citing recent American missile strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean.

Petro announced the decision on Tuesday, saying the measure will remain in effect “while the missile attacks on boats in the Caribbean continue.” He said the fight against drug trafficking “must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people.”

The announcement came as Petro quoted a report from CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, which said the United Kingdom had suspended intelligence-sharing with the United States in the Caribbean over similar concerns.

According to CNN, British officials believe the U.S. strikes on suspected smuggling vessels are illegal and have refused to be complicit in them.

The United States has carried out a series of strikes since September as part of an expanded counter-narcotics campaign. On Monday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed that two vessels allegedly operated by designated terrorist organizations were destroyed in the Eastern Pacific, killing six people.

U.S. officials have said the strikes target narcotics networks operating through international waters in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Since September, at least 19 such operations have been confirmed, resulting in 76 deaths, according to government figures.

Several of those attacks occurred off the Venezuelan coast, with others reported off the Pacific coasts of Mexico and Colombia.