On Twitter Petro denounced the murder of a Colombian citizen by the US military in Colombia territorial Waters. It was not the first time that Trump ordered the murder of a civilian, though it is notable that it took place in Colombian territory.
It is the case of Alejandro Carranza murdered on September 15th. His fishing boat was adrift following a breakdown and Trump murdered him. The US stated without any proof that on October 17th they had murdered three ELN guerrillas in another attack on a boat.[1] Petro should take note, as throughout his government as part of the pressure on the ELN in the failed peace process Petro tried to link them to the drugs trade and now Trump takes him at his word and uses it against him.
Regarding the fishing vessel, Petro stated:
The boat attacked on the 16th of September was Colombian, its engine was off and raised to signal the damage, presumably in Colombian waters, the person there was a lifelong fisherman: Alejandro Carranza who has not returned home.[2]
Petro stated his intention to take international legal measures, but his statements are about as believable as his proposal to raise an international army to free Palestine. Once again, the situation calls for resounding actions instead of fine words. Trump wants to invade Venezuela and authorised his death squad, the CIA, to operate clandestinely there. He has yet to make the same authorisation for Colombia, but there is no need to. The US has seven bases at its disposal that Petro not only allows to operate but rather he wants to strengthen the US military presence in the country.
It might be interesting to file lawsuits against Trump and the US government in general, but even if he does it, those suits will take their time to bear fruit and will not resolve the current situation. In the current context, closing the military bases is not without danger, as we don’t know how Trump would react. But what we do know is that is that giving into him is not a good strategy. It hasn’t worked for anyone, not even the European Union and they have much more economic and political power than Colombia.
So, Trump could be sued for violating the territorial sovereignty of Colombia, for murder, for breaking maritime law, as boat adrift should rescued not destroyed. But there are more forceful measures. He could start with soft diplomatic actions such as calling in the US ambassador and not waste time on twitter explaining how he has met the demands of the Yanks on the issue of drugs, nor how he respects the decrepit culture of the USA. Nor should he waste time evoking Bolívar. Bolívar had said that the US was destined to plague Latin America with misery and he wasn’t wrong, but to evoke him and do nothing is to get down on your knees.
The USA has invaded national territory with a missile fired to kill a poor fisherman, it has destroyed a family, their children. This Bolívar’s homeland and they are murdering their children with bombs. The USA violated the national territory of Colombia and murdered an honest Colombian worker. Raise aloft the sword of Bolívar![3]
Petro is obsessed with Bolívar’s sword that he withdrew from the museum to be used in his presidential swearing in ceremony. But that sword belonged to a soldier that defeated one of the largest empires on the planet at the time: the Spanish. It should be raised again to defeat them once again.
It is fine for Petro to speak nice, but nice actions are of another class. When a foreign government kills a US citizen they react with military, economic and military reprisals. Obviously, Colombia doesn’t have the same power. But it could expel the US ambassador, close the military bases, revoke the visa of the US Southern Command’s military officers, suspend all extraditions to the US.
Within the country, there is no lack of the rotten right wing who support Trump and see in him the chance of a coup or at least a further deterioration of Petro and his political forces in the coming elections next year. Amongst them is the journalist and presidential hopeful Vicky Dávila who lied on twitter:
It is true that Petro has allowed drug trafficking to make headway in Colombia. And he has given these criminals permanent benefits of freedom and impunity, amongst other things. It is clear that now Trump and the world knows it.[4]
What the world may not know, and perhaps Dávila wants us to forget is that her own family are the worst sort, pure scum: drug dealers and murderers. Her father-in-law, Lucas Gnecco, the former governor of Cesar was convicted of corruption. The Gnecco family is connected to all sorts of crimes such as money laundering, murders and paramilitary activity. Without a doubt her voice will be heard over and again on the issue of drugs. The Colombian right is as rotten and permeated by drug trafficking as the Venezuelan right. Other politicians linked to the cattle ranching sector, the main promoter of paramilitarism also came out to condemn Petro.
Bolívar did not unsheathe his sword to speak pretty words nor just give speeches, but rather to fight. Trump said quite clearly that he is willing to invade Colombia in order to close down the killing fields, i.e. the coca fields and added that it won’t be done in a nice manner.[5]
What is Petro waiting for? Unfortunately, Petro still believes in the international system and the pipe-dreamer believes that it is enough for him to demonstrate his oratory skills without taking and concrete measures nor seek allies. Meanwhile the Colombian right prepares itself and like the escuálidos in Venezuela they wait for Trump to strike out.
References
[1] El Espectador (19/10/2025) EE.UU. asegura que mató a tres narcos en ataque y los vincula al ELN.
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