Colombian rebel group denies involvement in boat destroyed by US
The National Liberation Army (ELN) says it has no ties to drug trafficking; tensions rise after Donald Trump calls Gustavo Petro a “leader of illegal drugs”
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels denied on Tuesday any involvement with an alleged drug boat destroyed by the United States in the Caribbean.
"The National Liberation Army does not have and will not have any boats linked to drug trafficking activities, neither in the Caribbean nor in any other ocean, simply because this is prohibited" by the group's rules, the ELN said in a statement dated Monday but published on social media on Tuesday.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated over the weekend that a vessel bombed by US forces in the Caribbean on Friday belonged to the ELN, although Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the vessel was owned by a "humble family."
Petro opposes the US military attacks on ships in the Caribbean, which killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions in the region. Many legal experts and human rights activists have also condemned the military actions.
In response, Trump accused Petro, without evidence, of being an "illegal drug kingpin" and threatened to raise tariffs on Colombia and cut all US funding to the country.
