Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that he is suspending intelligence sharing with the United States in response to Washington's attacks on ships suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
"An order has been given to all levels of intelligence services of the security forces to suspend sending communications and other operations with American security agencies," Petro announced yesterday on the X network.
He added that the decision would remain in effect while US missile strikes on ships suspected of carrying drugs continue. Critics of the US actions equate them with "extrajudicial" executions.
Petro wrote that "the fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the peoples of the Caribbean."
At least 75 people have been killed in US military strikes in international waters since August, according to the Trump administration. The strikes began in the southern Caribbean but have recently moved to the eastern Pacific, where the US has targeted ships off Mexico.
Petro previously called for an investigation into US President Donald Trump for alleged war crimes over the strikes that have hit citizens of Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.
In October, the Trump administration imposed financial sanctions on Peter and his family members, accusing them of involvement in global drug trafficking, the AP agency reminds.
Petro allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop that activity, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said in a statement on October 24, when the sanctions were imposed.
"President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make it clear that we will not tolerate drug trafficking into our country," Besant said.
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