Colombian President Petro Says U.S. Must Be Taken To The UN Security Council After Latest Strike Against Alleged Drug Boat

Colombian President Gustavo Petro again criticized U.S. strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, saying the country "must be taken to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly."

"The murder of 27 Latin American people, including the most recent six, after the (UN) Human Rights Commission approved a resolution introduced by Colombia to condition all drug policy to the respect of human rights," Petro said in a social media post on Wednesday. He was making reference to the latest strike announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, in which he claimed six people smuggling drugs were killed.

"The U.S. has just broken the Human Rights Commission's resolution and the case must be taken to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly," Petro added.

The Colombian President has repeatedly slammed the Trump administration for carrying out strikes against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean. In fact, he said that the previous one targeted a Colombian vessel carrying Colombian citizens.

"There is a new war front: the Caribbean. Hints show that the latest boat struck was Colombian and had Colombian citizens on it. I hope their families will come out and denounce it. There is no war against smuggling. It's a war for oil and it must be stopped by the world. The attack is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean," Petro said lats week.

The White House slammed Petro for his comment, with a U.S. official telling CBS News that the Trump administration "looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement so that we can return to a productive dialogue on building a strong, prosperous future for the people of [the] United States and Colombia."

Petro has escalated his rhetoric on the matter this month. Last Tuesday he also claimed the U.S. will invade Venezuela following a report about Trump ending all diplomatic outreach to the South American country.

"The negotiation should not have revolved around free oil. It should have revolved around, like Biden said but lacked audacity, around free elections, a political agreement among Venezuelans and the end of the blockage. Now we're headed to an invasion based on lies," Petro said.

He was citing a report by The New York Times claiming that Trump ended all diplomatic outreach to Venezuela, instructing envoy Richard Grenell to cease all efforts as he grows frustrated with authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro's reluctance to relinquish power.