The United States has announced a suspension of financial aid to Colombia amid rising tensions between Washington and Bogotá.
President Donald Trump said the decision was due to Colombia’s failure to curb drug production, which he claimed fuels widespread addiction and crime in the US.
Relations between the two nations have deteriorated in recent months. The situation intensified when the US State Department revoked Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa during his visit to the United Nations after he joined a pro-Palestinian rally in New York and criticized US military policies.
The dispute deepened following a controversial US military strike in the Caribbean, which Colombia said killed a local fisherman, Alejandro Carranza. President Petro accused the US of violating Colombia’s sovereignty and announced that Carranza had no connection to drug trafficking.
His family claimed he died while fishing when his boat, reportedly stranded due to an engine failure, was hit during the strike.
The US described the operation as part of a wider campaign against narcotics smuggling and claimed it targeted a submarine carrying fentanyl and other illegal substances. Two of the four people on board survived the attack and were later taken into custody.
The Colombian government confirmed that one of its detained nationals from the submarine had been repatriated and would face legal proceedings.
The strike was the sixth US assault on alleged narcotics vessels off the Venezuelan coast this year, bringing the reported death toll from such operations to 27.
The growing conflict has raised international concerns about the legality and human rights implications of US military actions in Latin America.
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