President Donald Trump’s mismanagement of America led millions of people to take to the streets in “No Kings” protests over the weekend, and now new information is surfacing showing that Trump failure extends to his handling of South American affairs.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the U.S. of killing a “lifelong fisherman,” Alejandro Carranza, in a September attack on a boat that the Trump administration claimed was involved in drug trafficking.
“U.S. government officials have committed a murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters,” Petro wrote on social media.
In response, Trump ranted on his Truth Social that Petro is an “illegal drug leader” and would halt aid to Colombia which has been used to fight drug trafficking. Without evidence, he accused Petro of encouraging drug production.
“Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely,” Trump added.
Trump has been under criticism from Democrats for repeated strikes against Venezuelan boats, which the administration has claimed to be involved in drug trafficking. Trump has a long history of blatantly lying and his allegations about these boats have not been independently verified.
Even Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican senator and Trump ally, has criticized the operation. “All these people have been blown up without us knowing their name, without any evidence of a crime,” Paul told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
On a similar note, the Washington Post reported more sordid details of Trump’s actions with El Salvador’s leader President Nayib Bukele on Sunday.
The paper revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered up nine MS-13 gang members in U.S. custody to Bukele in exchange for the ability to send deported migrants to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison for holding. The prisoners being offered up were informants and part of an ongoing FBI investigation into possible ties between MS-13 and Bukele.
Douglas Farah, a contractor who worked with the government to prosecute MS-13 figures, told the Post, “The deal is a deep betrayal of U.S. law enforcement, whose agents risked their lives to apprehend the gang members.”
Related | Trump reportedly releases alleged MS-13 member to aid dictator buddy
Despite Trump’s claims that he is getting tough on drug trafficking, the administration has been happy to work with Bukele, an authoritarian who many believe has benefited from MS-13 support. Bukele has previously been accused of trying to sabotage U.S. cases against MS-13.
Two weeks ago, Trump and other leading Republicans expressed outrage after Trump once again failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize. But he cannot even secure basic peace in his own hemisphere, let alone on the wider global stage.
