The Latin American Report # 613

The controversial deployment of U.S. forces in the Caribbean has ceased to be a problem associated exclusively with Venezuela and the so-called Cartel of the Suns. Thus, it has now become an issue encompassing other nations bathed by that sea, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Colombia. The matter has become particularly tense concerning relations between Washington and Bogotá, which were already quite frayed due to certain diplomatic clashes since the inauguration of the current American administration.

The problems began with Trump's deportation policy, as Petro did not like the aesthetic surrounding the deportation flights. More recently, the State Department lashed out at the head of the Nariño House for his political activism while attending a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. With this quick background in mind, we can assess the events of the last few hours, involving the U.S. Navy's attack on a drug submarine that, according to Trump, was sailing through the international waters of the Caribbean loaded with fentanyl.

Of the four crew members, two died and two—a Colombian and an Ecuadorian—survived, although the Colombian was reportedly seriously injured. Then, in another questionable decision, the U.S. government sent these two survivors back to their countries of origin. Some see an inconsistency in the United States feeling entitled to kill without due process, yet, when it has the opportunity to initiate legal proceedings, it rejects that possibility.

One fact must be clearly noted: drug trafficking in the region is real, as Colombian authorities, for example, acknowledged that the national detained on the high seas was traveling on a drug submarine loaded with narcotics, although Bogotá speaks of cocaine and Trump of fentanyl. For now, the U.S. president announced early this Sunday that he has decided to eliminate all assistance to Colombia, accusing Petro in harsh terms—"an illegal drug dealer"—of doing nothing to stop drug trafficking.

Just hours later, Pete Hegseth revealed that this past Friday, they had attacked a vessel allegedly linked to the Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN), the oldest active guerrilla group in the hemisphere. But Petro has claimed before that in mid-September, one of the attacks targeted and killed a humble fisherman—in waters under Colombian jurisdiction—who had nothing to do with drugs and is missing since then. "The United States has invaded our national territory, fired a missile to kill a humble fisherman, and destroyed his family, his children. This is Bolívar's homeland, and they are murdering his children with bombs," Petro stated via X.

The Colombian Defense Ministry has warned of the consequences of eliminating U.S. assistance. "When international relations are fractured, when international cooperation is fractured, it gives space for criminals to flourish," said Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez Suárez. Finally, Ecuador does not anticipate opening any legal proceedings against the citizen deported by Washington because authorities consider that he did not commit any crime in Ecuadorian territory. We will keep a close watch on this complex and highly tense situation in the region.

This is all for today’s report.