Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Photo: Colombian Presidential Office/File photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered his nation’s intelligence agencies to suspend communications and other dealings with their counterparts in the US empire as long as Washington continues its extrajudicial strikes against small boats in the region.
“I order to all levels of public security forces’ intelligence to suspend communications and other dealings with US security agencies,” Petro announced via social media this Tuesday, November 11.
“Such a measure will remain as long as missile attacks on boats in the Caribbean persists,” he explained. “The fight against drugs must be subordinated to human rights of the Caribbean people.”
Se da orden a todos los niveles de la inteligencia de la fuerza pública suspender envío de comunicaciones y otros tratos con agencias de seguridad estadounidenses. Tal medida se mantendrá mientras se mantenga el ataque con misiles a lanchas en el Caribe. La lucha contra las… https://t.co/IZRWiL4s6t
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 11, 2025
US campaign’s international backlash
The Colombian president’s decision adds to a similar measure taken earlier by the UK, which suspended a small part of its intelligence cooperation with Washington in response to the recent US military strikes. The United Nations has notably labeled the US military operation as extrajudicial executions.
Mainstream media has reported that the UK decision was made in response to fears in Downing Street that the information shared with Washington could be used to identify targets in the Caribbean for strikes, wherein the legality of said strikes is questioned by international organizations and experts.
On numerous occasions, President Petro has described the US attacks on boats allegedly linked to drug trafficking as assassinations, and has urged Washington to respect international law.
Due to his criticism of the US operations in the region, the US regime has launched a campaign against him and Colombia. This has included adding Petro to the infamous Clinton List of sanctioned personalities, revoking his visa, canceling US financial assistance to Colombia, and even threatening the nation with land attacks.
Regional warnings and intelligence value
Colombia’s Foreign Ministry has asserted that “85% of the actionable intelligence used by the Southern Inter-Institutional Joint Task Force came from Colombia,” within the framework of Operation Orion.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has made warnings that the US military operation, allegedly framed in the “war on drugs,” in reality aims at regime change to seize Venezuela’s natural resources, primarily oil.
Venezuela’s Defense Minister: US Military Used as Mercenaries, New Military Drill
Venezuela claims that Washington’s threat is not only against the country, but against the entire region, which was declared a Zone of Peace at the 2014 summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Last Monday, Petro warned that US greed for natural resources poses a threat to both Venezuela and Colombia.
Civilian casualties
So far, the US military operations have taken the lives of 75 civilians from undefined countries. The obscurity of the US operation continues to withhold information about the victims: however, nationals of Venezuela, Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago have been confirmed among those murdered by the US empire, and an Ecuadorian national was reported as a survivor.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/AU
