Colombia’s president has accused Washington of committing an “act of tyranny” after United States (US) airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean reportedly left 17 people dead this month. In a BBC interview, Colombian leader, Gustavo Petro, said any loss of Colombian lives must lead to criminal charges against US officials, questioning both the legality and morality of the attacks.

“Why launch a missile if you could simply stop the boat and arrest the crew? That’s what one would call murder,” Petro argued, insisting that maritime seizures of narcotics had for decades been conducted without deaths. He said the principle of proportionality was being ignored, adding that “zero deaths” should be the standard in tackling smuggling operations.

The Trump administration has defended the strikes as necessary to stop the flow of fentanyl and other narcotics into the US, but it has provided little detail about the identities of those killed. Officials have claimed that members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang were aboard one of the targeted vessels, though this is disputed. Democratic lawmakers in Washington, along with United Nations experts, have raised alarm that the strikes may constitute unlawful extrajudicial killings.

The operations come amid a wider US military build-up in the southern Caribbean, including additional naval deployments and thousands of marines. Trump has also broadened his anti-narcotics campaign by designating several Latin American groups as terrorist organisations. Petro, who has clashed with Trump before, said South America “would not bow down to the king” and accused the US leader of humiliating his people. He added that Trump’s policies risk isolating the United States rather than its critics.