Overview

• President Trump said two survivors of a U.S. strike on a semi-submersible were sent to Ecuador and Colombia to be detained and prosecuted, and he labeled the four aboard as “narcoterrorists.”
• Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed the Colombian survivor’s return for trial under national law, and his interior minister said the man arrived with head trauma, under sedation and on a ventilator.
• Trump asserted U.S. intelligence determined the vessel was mainly loaded with fentanyl and other illegal drugs, while officials have not disclosed the craft’s point of origin.
• Petro accused U.S. forces of violating Colombia’s maritime sovereignty and killing fisherman Alejandro Carranza in a September 15 attack, with a relative identifying the boat and officials citing a distress signal from a stalled engine.
• Since early September, the United States has deployed seven ships and stealth fighters and conducted at least six strikes that reportedly killed at least 27 people, intensifying debate over the operations’ legality.