White House Slams Gustavo Petro For Claiming U.S. Struck a Colombian Vessel: 'Baseless And Reprehensible'

The White House slammed Colombian President Gustavo Petro after he said the latest U.S. strike in the Caribbean targeted a Colombian vessel.

A U.S. official told 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 claimed on Wednesday that there were hints that the latest vessel struck by the U.S. "was Colombian and had Colombian citizens" on it.

"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.

He later taunted the White House, saying it "can give us information about the people killed by the U.S.'s strikes, see if mine is wrong."

Petro has escalated his rhetoric on the matter over the past days. On Tuesday he also claimed the U.S. will invade Venezuela following a report about President Donald 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.

Petro also criticized Hegseth after the strike, saying that the people on the boat were not "narco-terrorists," but "poor young men from the Caribbean islands trying to survive."

"By bombing them with missiles like in Gaza, you are murdering the Caribbean people," Petro said. He went on to claim that what the Trump administration really wants is "Venezuela and Guyana's oil, that's it."

"The use of anti-economic and murderous missiles has another goal. You want to harass us to get the oil for free," Petro added.