Name: Colombian fishermen express fears over lethal U.S. strikes
Uploaded: 2025-12-07T15:09:24.345Z
Duration: 5 min 55 s
Description: Since the Trump administration began launching strikes against alleged drug vessels off the coasts of South America, killing at least 87 people, some fishermen in Santa Marta, Colombia, say their way of life is under attack.

Since the Trump administration began launching strikes against alleged drug vessels off the coasts of South America, killing at least 87 people, some fishermen in Santa Marta, Colombia, say their way of life is under attack.

Santa Marta

Fishermen along Colombia's Caribbean coast have expressed fear and uncertainty following a series of U.S. military strikes against suspected drug trafficking vessels. Since the launch of Operation Southern Spear, at least 22 strikes have been conducted, resulting in 87 deaths, with some locals worried about being mistakenly targeted.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has condemned the strikes as violations of international law, emphasizing that Colombia captures suspects rather than killing them. Legal experts in the United States have also questioned the legality of these actions, arguing that current laws do not justify lethal force against drug traffickers.

Colombian fishermen express fears over lethal U.S. strikes

The Caribbean Sea is the lifeblood of fishing communities here in Santa Marta, Colombia, where fishermen have been casting their nets for centuries. One fisherman who is fearful of showing his face tells us in Spanish, things have changed. And suddenly, there's a monster coming from the ocean. Some fishermen here say their way of life has been under attack since the Trump administration launched its counter-narcotics offensive, Operation Southern Spear. Since September, U.S. forces have carried out at least 22 strikes against suspected drug vessels off the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of South America, killing at least 87 people. Another fear, fisherman Pedro Daniels says, is that the owner of the world decides to give an order and bomb one of us. The second of those strikes, on September 15th, killed Colombian national Alejandro Carranza. You remember the last time he went out fishing? He never came back. Carranza's father and niece learned of Alejandro's death more than a month later, when Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted on social media that, in his words, the U.S. had murdered him. They said it was him, but there's no proof or even a body. Nobody knows if it's him. You don't know if it had cocaine in it. We spoke with the president of Colombia six weeks ago. He decried the American attacks, saying they were a violation of international law. We wouldn't go against the boaters. We don't kill them. We capture them, he told us. President Petro says his administration has seized thousands of tons of cocaine in recent years. On Wednesday, we flew with the Colombian Navy to a military base in the town of Covenas, where they showed us 4.5 tons of cocaine they seized the night before. This video provided by the Colombian Navy shows the interception and seizure nearly 80 miles offshore. This is the biggest Go-Fast loaded that were interdicted by the Colombian Navy in the Caribbean coast. Rear Admiral Carlos Oramas commands Colombia's naval forces in the Caribbean. He says Colombia and the U.S. have collaborated for decades to intercept so-called Go-Fast drug trafficking boats, seize the drugs and prosecute the suspects. Have you seen an impact in the amount of boats that you're seeing or you're surveilling off of the Caribbean or the Pacific? No, I didn't, especially because this event shows us that they are still going out. They're not stopping? They are not stopping. Neither are the boat strikes. On Thursday, the U.S. military announced this attack on an alleged drug trafficking vessel, killing four. We've only just begun striking narco boats and putting narco terrorists at the bottom of the ocean. Secretary of Defense Pete Hexeth's remarks came during a tense week in Washington. He faced new questions about a September 2nd boat strike where survivors were targeted and killed in a follow-up strike. I did not personally see survivors, but I stand because the thing was on fire. It was exploded in fire and smoke. You can't see anything. You got digital. This is called the fog of war. As Congress debates the legality of the strike, President Trump is standing by his administration's approach and suggested the military is preparing to shift its tactics. I think you're going to find that this is war, that these people were killing our people by the millions, actually. And very soon we're going to start doing it on land, too. The Pentagon says its actions in the Caribbean and Pacific are lawful under both U.S. and international law. But many legal experts have raised concerns. There's every reason to believe that the U.S. military has been conducting illegal strikes in this matter. It's a very serious thing because we are not at war and we're not allowed to do these kinds of killings. Michael Waldman is president of the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute at New York University's School of Law. It would be just as illegal for the U.S. Army to see somebody on the streets in the United States and say, oh, I think they're a drug dealer, and blow them up. The Trump administration has designated these groups as narco-terrorists. Does that provide any legal protection? The laws governing terrorism are laws that were passed by Congress. You deal with things like al-Qaeda, with armed groups trying to overthrow a government or make a military attack on the United States. Drug gangs can be terrible, can be a threat, but that doesn't make them terrorists under the law. Fishermen along Colombia's Caribbean coast make a similar argument about drug trafficking and due process. He says laws exist in the world, so when somebody makes a mistake, they pay under the law. Justice determines how.

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