The President of Colombia calls American attacks against the so -called “tyranny” drugs “

American air strikes on alleged boats of drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea are an “act of tyranny,” said Colombia President Gustavo Petro, to the BBC in an interview where he also called for criminal procedures against American officials if investigations found Colombians killed during the attacks.

President Donald Trump launched strikes, who would have killed 17 since they started this month, if necessary to stop the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs in the United States.

Legal experts and legislators, however, asked if they violate international human rights laws.

“Why launch a missile if you could just stop the boat and stop the crew?” said Petro. “This is called murder.”

Addressing the BBC on Wednesday, Petro said that there should be “zero dead” in stopping speed boats suspected of being involved in drug smuggling.

“We have a long history of collaboration with American agencies and other agencies to carry out cocaine maritime crises,” he said. “No one has died before. It is not necessary to kill anyone.”

He added that the principle of proportionality of the force is violated “if you use something other than a pistol”.

International water strikes mainly focused on the Colombian neighbor in Venezuela, according to the Trump administration, but the United States has provided little details on targets and individuals killed, and its reports that the members of the Gang Tren of Aragua were on the first attacked boat are in litigation.

Washington Democratic legislators demanded responses from the White House on the legality of strikes, which the United Nations experts described as extrajudicial executions.

Asked about Petro’s comments, the White House said that Trump was “ready to use all the elements of the American power to prevent flooding in our country and to translate leaders into court”.

In the interview, conducted in New York where dignitaries around the world gathered for an annual United Nations annual meeting, Petro also accused the Trump administration of having humiliated his people and said that the South American nations like his “did not bow against the king”.

After his return in office in January, Trump hardened his speech, as well as his trade policies, for all of Latin America when he began a major deportation of people who, according to him, illegally crossed the South American border.

Trump also appointed several drug trafficking organizations and criminal groups in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America as a terrorist organization.

In addition to Tren of Aragua, Trump targeted the Suns cartel – a group which, according to the United States, is led by Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro and other high -ranking Venezuelan officials, some of the country’s military or intelligent services.

The American army has moved to strengthen its forces in the South of the Caribbean in the past two months, in particular by the deployment of additional ships and thousands of American navies and sailors.

Petro fought several times with his American counterpart. Pressed if he has now risked isolating his country further, Petro said it was Trump who isolated the United States with his foreign policies.

“Trump had already insulted me during a presidential campaign, he called me a terrorist,” he said.