Cocaine, Cannon Fire & Contortions: Trump Escalates Drug War, Risks Alienating Colombia
Trump boasts of U.S. strikes on “narco boats” while decertifying Colombia in the drug fight - a move that could nudge Bogota towards Maduro & leave US’s most vital ally in Latin America seething
President Donald Trump said the U.S. military on Monday again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel, and hinted that the military targeting of cartels could be further expanded. The strike was carried out nearly two weeks after another military strike on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela that killed 11. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office later on Monday, Trump said he had been shown footage of the latest strike by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Asked what proof the U.S. has that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump replied, "We have proof. All you have to do is look at the cargo that was spattered all over the ocean — big bags of cocaine and and fentanyl all over the place." Trump also suggested that U.S. military strikes targeting alleged drug smugglers at sea could be expanded to land. He said the U.S. military is seeing fewer vessels in the Caribbean since carrying out the first strike early this month. But he said the cartels are still smuggling drugs by land. The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. But several senators, Democrats and some Republicans, have questioned the legality of Trump's action. They view it as a potential overreach of executive authority in part because the military was used for law enforcement purposes - NPR
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro appeared visibly frustrated after United States President Donald Trump designated Colombia among several countries Washington believes have “failed” to cooperate in the international fight against drugs. On Monday evening, Trump added Colombia to a list of countries that included Afghanistan, Bolivia, Myanmar and Venezuela as having “failed demonstrably” during the past 12 months to “adhere to obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and take measures required” against drug trafficking. “Under Petro’s misguided leadership, coca cultivation & cocaine production in Colombia has increased to historic levels,” the US State Department said on the X social media platform following the announcement of the “presidential determination” on major drug transit and producing countries.
President Trump “has determined that the Colombian government failed to uphold its drug control obligations, but he has issued a waiver so critical US cooperation, including on counter-narcotics, can continue. Results matter – we must see progress and it must be soon!” the State Department added. Responding earlier to the report that Colombia had been “decertified” as an ally of Washington in the fight against drugs, Petro said: “The United States is decertifying us after dozens of deaths of police officers and soldiers” in the fight against drug cartels and armed groups funded by drug trafficking. “They decertify us after we are the ones who have seized the most cocaine in all of history, the ones who have dismantled thousands of laboratories,” Petro told a cabinet meeting. “What we are doing does not really have to do with the Colombian people,” he said, according to the Reuters news agency. “Rather, it is to stop American society from getting their noses dirty from the desire to work, work, work,” he added, in an apparent reference to the stimulant effects of cocaine. - Al Jazeera
In 2014, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) issued a declaration that designated Latin America and the Caribbean a “Zone of Peace.” Colombia is currently pro tempore president of the bloc. Petro has sought to strengthen ties with Maduro, who remains isolated internationally and with a US$50 million bounty for his arrest, reports the City Paper
“We reject the logic of intervention. (Protecting the zone of peace) does not mean denying our internal differences or minimizing the seriousness of transnational organized crime. It means confronting it with institutions, judicial and police cooperation, and mutual trust – not with military threats that inevitably generate negative implications for human security, trade, tourism, and the economies of all our countries - Colombia’s Foreign Minister, Rosa Villavicencio
My hot take: Without the U.S. anti-drug certification, Colombia risks losing over $450-million in aid, The Latin Times reported. Petro claimed that the move was unjustified on the basis that Bogota has seized the most cocaine in history and dismantled “thousands of laboratories.” A senior Colombian diplomat told me that should the Trump administration go through with threats to designate the country as “failing” to cooperate in the international fight against drugs, it could push the country’s left-leaning president, Gustavo Petro, towards Venezuela’s Maduro. “It was a big mistake to decertify Colombia,” he said, adding that Petro announced last night that Colombia will not buy “one more single gun from the United States.” In 2023, Colombia purchased $1.1-billion worth of military equipment. While it is true America’s most important strategic partner on the continent has failed to live up to drug eradication targets - the UN says by a long shot - there’s also a feeling among Colombians that the U.S. should do much more to tamp down on the demand for drugs on its own soil.
Watch my interview here with CBS News where I cast doubt over the first U.S. military strike, suggesting it was probably a migrant smuggling boat.
An independent United Nations inquiry has concluded for the first time that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and that the country’s top leaders have incited genocide, in what it described as the “most authoritative UN finding to date.” In a 72-page report released on Tuesday, the commission, which was set up by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), found that Israel has “committed four genocidal acts” in the enclave since October 7, 2023, when Hamas carried out deadly attacks on Israel and Israel launched its military campaign. These acts include the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, causing Palestinians “serious bodily and mental harm,” “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” and “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group,” according to the report. Nearly 65,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry there. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but has said that most of the casualties are women and children. The Israeli government has maintained it is conducting the war in Gaza in self-defense and in accordance with international law, firmly denying accusations of genocide - CNN
A CNN military analyst warned that an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City could endanger any kind of long-term stability in the besieged enclave and jeopardize the lives of Israeli hostages still held there by Hamas. Speaking hours before Israel’s ground offensive was confirmed, retired US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton said it would be a “miracle” if the hostages survived the operation. “When you look at the types of forces that are going to be arrayed against positions in Gaza City, it really puts the hostages’ lives, unfortunately, at risk,” he told CNN’s Lynda Kinkade. While there are ways to “free hostages using very precise, pinpoint military operations … that’s not what the Israelis are doing in this particular case.”
War games involving Russian and Belarusian troops on Monday spurred unease in Europe, which is already on edge after Russian drones entered Poland and Romania last week. The games, which marked Moscow and Minsk’s first such joint exercises since 2021 — shortly before Russia used Belarus as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine — served as a message to Europe, the BBC’s Russia editor wrote: “See and consider the firepower on your doorstep; confrontation with Moscow is not in your best interest.” Despite the tensions, two US military observers attended the exercises in Belarus, the latest sign that Washington is looking to improve ties with the Russian ally. - Semafor
Poland's State Protection Service (SOP) has neutralised a drone that was flying over sensitive government locations in Warsaw, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a post on X. Two Belarusian citizens were detained in connection with the incident and police have launched an investigation into the incident, Tusk said.
The incident comes at a time of heightened regional tensions following a string of airspace violations. Poland says its airspace was violated in the early hours of Wednesday by a record 19 drones, believed to be from Russia - Euronews
President Donald Trump said on Monday he would file a $15-billion lawsuit for defamation and libel against the New York Times days after the newspaper released articles on his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The statement comes after Trump threatened last week to sue the New York Times for its reporting related to a sexually suggestive note and drawing given to Epstein. “Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. Trump accused the paper of lying about him, his family and businesses, as well as Republican-led movements and ideologies such as the America First Movement, and Make America Great Again, or MAGA. The suit would be filed in Florida, he added, but gave no further details.
Robert Redford, the Hollywood golden boy who became an Oscar-winning director, liberal activist and godfather for independent cinema under the name of one of his best-loved characters, died Tuesday at 89. Redford died “at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” publicist Cindi Berger said in a statement. No cause of death was provided. After rising to stardom in the 1960s, Redford was one of the biggest stars of the ’70s with such films as “The Candidate,” “All the President’s Men” and “The Way We Were,” capping that decade with the best director Oscar for 1980’s “Ordinary People,” which also won best picture in 1980. His wavy blond hair and boyish grin made him the most desired of leading men, but he worked hard to transcend his looks — whether through his political advocacy, his willingness to take on unglamorous roles or his dedication to providing a platform for low-budget movies - AP
The journals….
