American strikes off Venezuela, which have killed Colombian citizens, are not about drugs, according to President Gustavo Petro

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the US of trying to start a war in the Caribbean under the guise of an anti-drug campaign, adding that Colombian citizens were killed in the latest strikes off the coast of Venezuela.

In a post on social media on Wednesday, Petro claimed that the campaign is not about narcotics but rather resources in the region. The White House dismissed the claim as "baseless," according to Reuters.

The US has been conducting airstrikes targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels near Venezuela, in what it described as an effort to curb narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean. Washington has long accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of having ties to drug cartels. Maduro has denied the accusations and has insisted that the attacks are part of an attempt to depose him.

In recent weeks, the US has sunk at least four boats it claimed were carrying narcotics off the coast of Venezuela, killing more than 20 people.

"Evidence shows that the last boat bombed was Colombian, with Colombian citizens on board," Petro wrote.

The Columbian president claimed the US campaign was not about drugs but about control of natural resources. "There is no war against smuggling; there is a war for oil," he wrote, calling the attacks "an aggression against all of Latin America and the Caribbean."

For years, Colombia was regarded as Washington's closest partner in South America. Through Plan Colombia, a multibillion-dollar US aid initiative launched in 2000, successive Colombian governments granted US forces access to local bases and backed US-led efforts to isolate Venezuela. That policy shifted after Petro was elected in 2022. He moved to restore diplomatic relations with Caracas and called for a more independent foreign policy and regional cooperation.