Colombia president decries U.S. striking alleged drug boats

President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday said criminal proceedings should be opened against President Donald Trump and other high-ranking U.S. officials after three military strikes on ships in the Caribbean. American airstrikes on Sept. 2, 15, and 19 killed a total of 17 people aboard boats that Trump said Mexican cartels and the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang were using to transport narcotics. After the first strike that killed 11 people, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the people on board the ship were civilians. The Trump administration has accused the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela of being run by cartels.

In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Petro accused the U.S. military of targeting unarmed young people. His government successfully seized record amounts of illegal drugs and apprehended traffickers without violence, he said. United Nations experts last week condemned the first two strikes as extrajudicial executions and said international law did not allow governments to kill people based on allegations of their involvement in drug trafficking.

What have U.S. officials said about the strikes? President Trump wrote a letter to Congress earlier this month defending the attacks, citing self-defense as the reason for the operation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said suspected drug smugglers pose an immediate threat to the country and that Trump had the authority to eliminate such threats in international waters. Meanwhile, retired Army Lt. Col. Daniel Maurer wrote that the government’s order was illegal and that the service members involved could face criminal prosecution.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about one of the strikes.