FROM DAILY CALLER: The president of the leading cocaine producer in the world said Wednesday morning that the U.S. strike on a Tren de Aragua drug trafficking vessel Tuesday was tantamount to “murder.”
President Donald Trump designated a slew of Latin American cartels as terrorist organizations in early August and authorized the U.S. military to strike the groups. The strike Tuesday killed 11 operatives from the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua cartel.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said, in in a post translated by the Daily Caller News Foundation, that the pilots of the boat were likely “poor young people” and that the killing was unjust because the transporters weren’t the “big narcos.” Colombia is not only the world’s largest exporter of cocaine, but also plays host to some of Latin America’s most vicious cartels and militias.
“We have been capturing civilians who transport drugs for decades without killing them,” Petro said in his post. “Those who transport drugs are not the big narcos, but very poor young people from the Caribbean and the Pacific.”
Petro, formerly a member of the M-19 militia, a Marxist militant group that later transformed into a political party, has attempted to engage in talks with armed groups, cartels, and militias in Colombia. Criminal groups have only intensified their activities since Petro assumed office in 2023.
Early in his term, Petro has established himself as one of the many international critics of former President Donald Trump.
Si esto es verdad, es un asesinato en cualquier parte del mundo.
Llevamos décadas capturando civiles que transportan drogas sin matarlos. Los que transportan drogas no son los grandes narcos, sino los jóvenes muy pobres del Caribe y el Pacífico pic.twitter.com/Z55UEMIpsD
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 3, 2025
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