Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has said that the vessel bombed in the Caribbean by the United States was Colombian, warning that a “new war scenario” has emerged. “A new war scenario has opened up: the Caribbean,” Petro wrote on X. “This aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean.” His remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that American forces had struck a vessel off the coast of Venezuela.
Trump said the strike targeted a ship involved in drug trafficking, claiming the U.S. Navy had backed his mission “to blow the cartel terrorists the hell out of the water.” According to reports from Express US, Trump declared, “There are no boats in the water anymore. You can’t find them.” This was the fourth such operation in the Caribbean in recent weeks, part of what the administration describes as an intensified effort against drug cartels operating in the region.
However, the escalating strikes have sparked political backlash in Washington. Senate Democrats announced plans to hold a vote under the War Powers Act to limit the President’s ability to continue these operations without congressional approval. The proposed resolution would prevent the U.S. military from engaging in hostilities with any “non-state organization engaged in drug trafficking or related activities” unless explicitly authorized by Congress.
“There has been no authorization to use force by Congress in this way,” said Senator Adam Schiff of California. “I believe it is plainly unconstitutional.” The White House, however, defended the strikes in a memo sent to Congress, stating that the President determined the United States is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with designated terrorist organizations involved in the drug trade, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Not all lawmakers are convinced. Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul criticized the operations, arguing that such strikes risk killing innocent people. “Blowing them up without knowing who’s on the boat is a terrible policy,” he said, urging the administration to halt its actions until greater oversight is established.
The situation has also drawn condemnation from Venezuela. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez denounced the strikes as “warlike aggression,” accusing the U.S. of carrying out “summary extrajudicial executions” of citizens. President Nicolás Maduro vowed that Venezuela is ready to defend its sovereignty, proclaiming, “Venezuela has the right to peace, sovereignty, and existence and no empire in this world can take it away. And if it becomes necessary to move from an unarmed struggle to an armed struggle, this people will do so. Colonialism no more.”
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