By Sinan Dogan and Asiye Latife Yilmaz
BOGOTA, Colombia/ISTANBUL (AA) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro described recent US strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats off Colombia’s Pacific coast as “extrajudicial executions.”
“This type of operation violates international law. In these actions, the United States is committing extrajudicial executions,” Petro said Thursday at a press conference with international media at the Casa de Narino, the seat of government, a day after the US announced two new attacks in the Pacific near the Colombian coast.
Petro also said that US President Donald Trump has “slandered him and insulted Colombia.”
He also said that a suspension of aid from the US would mean little to his country but that a cut to military aid could have an effect.
“What happens if they take away aid? In my opinion, nothing,” he said, adding that aid funding often moved through US agencies and employed Americans.
Trump said Wednesday that all funding to Colombia had been halted after threatening over the weekend to raise tariffs on the country.
He earlier threatened to take “very serious action” against Petro and Colombia, which he accused of manufacturing illegal drugs that are brought into the US.