President Gustavo Petro denounced the discovery of lifeless bodies floating in the La Guajira sea and asked Medicina Legal (Forensic Services) to investigate their identities, on suspicion that they might be victims of a military attack in the Caribbean.

RELATED:

Cuban Legislators Warn of Regional Threats From U.S. Military Deployment in Caribbean

Local residents have found mutilated bodies on the beaches, and testimonies suggest that they may be related to bombings and explosions in the area.

In a video posted on Petro’s X account, reference is made to testimonies from residents of the area, who say that “the bombings and explosions in the Caribbean, those that have occurred around here, can be heard.”

According to what those people said, it is added that “those dead (…) would be the product of those bombings and it is presumed that they were Colombian citizens, who were killed without due process, an extrajudicial execution by the American bombing.”

In the publication, the president asks Legal Medicine to “establish identities and coordinate with the Prosecutor’s Office of Venezuela” and adds that “they may be deaths from bombing in the sea.”

In statements to local media, residents of the region have confirmed the appearance of at least three bodies on the coast. In addition to reporting that they heard the explosions, they were able to see the ships of the Southern Command weeks ago.

The family of a Colombian fisherman, Alejandro Carranza Medina, who was killed in an attack in the Caribbean Sea in September, filed a complaint with the IACHR against the United States government, alleging an extrajudicial execution. The complaint states that the US military bombed his boat, killing him.

This incident adds to other US military attacks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific waters against 22 vessels, which have resulted in at least 87 deaths, according to figures acknowledged by the Pentagon.

The Pentagon and the White House justify the attacks by claiming that the victims were drug traffickers, although without presenting evidence, which has generated doubts in Congress about the legality of these actions.

Operation Southern Lance, promoted by the Trump administration as a counter-narcotics campaign, has generated controversy over the lack of transparency in identifying victims, with only the names of Carranza (murdered), Jeison Obando Pérez and Andrés Fernando Tufiño Chila being known (survivors of an attack).

This operation, interpreted as a demonstration of military strength, includes an important naval and air presence, coinciding with an increase in tensions and hostile rhetoric towards Venezuela.

IN THIS ARTICLE