Colombia to suspend intelligence co-operation with US

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BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday ordered his country's security forces to stop sharing intelligence with the United States until the Trump administration ends its strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, as relations deteriorate between countries that were once close partners in the fight against drug trafficking.

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In a post on X, Petro wrote that Colombia's armed forces should immediately cease “communications and other agreements with US security agencies” until the US stops attacks on suspected drug boats, which critics have likened to extrajudicial killings.

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Petro wrote that “the fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of Caribbean people.” It is unclear what information Colombia will stop sharing with the United States. The White House had no immediate reaction to Peter's latest statements.

US military strikes in international waters have killed at least 75 people since August, according to the Trump administration. The strikes began in the southern Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela, but recently moved to the eastern Pacific, where the US attacked ships off the coast of Mexico.

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Petro called for US President Donald Trump to be involved in a war crimes investigation related to the strikes, which affected citizens of Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The leftist leader has long been a critic of U.S. drug policy and accuses the Trump administration of going after farmers who grow coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, instead of going after big-time drug traffickers and money launderers. On Sunday, Petro said he had met with the family of a Colombian fisherman believed to have died in one of the strikes.

“He could have been transporting fish or cocaine, but he was not sentenced to death,” Petro said during a summit between Latin American and European Union leaders organized in Colombia on Sunday. “There was no need to kill him.”

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The Trump administration accused Petro of being soft on drug traffickers and criticized the Colombian president's decision to exempt Colombian rebel leaders involved in the drug trade from extradition to the United States.

In October, the administration imposed financial sanctions on Petro and members of his family over allegations of involvement in the global drug trade.

Petro “allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop those activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement after the sanctions were imposed on Oct. 24. “President Trump is taking decisive action to protect our country and make it clear that we will not tolerate drug trafficking into our country.”

The escalating tensions between the United States and Colombia come as the United States increases its naval presence in the southern Caribbean, with eight warships, a submarine, fighter jets and marines deployed to the region. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford is also expected to arrive in the Caribbean this month.

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Venezuela's government has called its naval buildup a threat to its sovereignty, and Venezuelan officials have said the U.S. military is preparing to strike the embattled government of Nicolas Maduro.

The Trump administration has said its deployment is aimed at curbing drug traffickers, although Trump also hinted that targets could also be struck in Venezuela, whose leader has been described by officials in Washington as the head of a drug cartel.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez announced Tuesday that military personnel, civilian militia members, police officers and ruling party organizers will be mobilized for exercises to defend the country's airspace. He made his speech, which was broadcast on state television, standing at an anti-aircraft missile site at a military base in the capital Caracas, but no training activities were visible elsewhere in the city.

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