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Trump goes all-out against Colombia’s Petro after claims drug strike killed fisherman: What we know

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Colombia’s government says a fisherman killed in a recent US strike near Venezuelan waters was not a drug trafficker — directly challenging Washington’s claim that its growing Caribbean campaign is hitting «narco-terrorist» targets and pushing relations with the key non-NATO ally into a new spiral.

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Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who aligns politically with Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro, has had a combative relationship with President Donald Trump and is expected to challenge US actions. Yet Washington has released only limited evidence linking the targeted vessels to drug networks, and US intelligence officials have declined to say how confident they are in the assessments that led to the strikes.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has insisted the intelligence is conclusive.

«Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route,» Hegseth said after an Oct. 3 strike.

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WASHINGTON’S SHADOW WAR: HOW STRIKES ON CARTELS THREATEN TO COLLAPSE MADURO’S REGIME

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who aligns politically with Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro, has had a combative relationship with President Donald Trump and would be inclined to challenge U.S. actions (Sebastian Barros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Over the weekend, U.S. Southern Command carried out another strike, this one targeting a vessel it said was affiliated with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Hegseth said three people were killed.

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«The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics,» he said. «There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike — which was conducted in international waters.»

Petro, however, claimed the boat belonged to a Colombian fisherman.

«The fisherman’s boat from Santa Marta was not from the ELN; it belonged to a humble family, lovers of the sea, from which they drew their food,» he wrote on X. «What do you say to the family of Alejandro Carranza? He was a humble human being.»

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Trump responded by lashing out at Petro, calling him an «illegal drug trafficker,» announcing that the U.S. would cut off all counter-narcotics aid to Colombia, and again threatening steep tariffs. He also suggested that U.S. strikes could expand to Colombian territory.

«Petro, a low-rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely,» Trump said.

And in response to Petro’s assertion, Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell fired back in a statement to Fox News Digital: «Every action taken by the Department is deliberate, lawful, and precise. The male narco-terrorists killed in DoW operations were affiliated members of Transnational Criminal Organizations actively transporting illicit material along known trafficking routes in international waters.»

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While administration officials have posted video clips of the strikes and maintained that their intelligence is sound, they have not released specific evidence of the type or quantity of narcotics allegedly aboard the vessels, nor have they identified the individuals killed.

vessel on fire as smoke billows into sky

And in response to Petro’s assertion, Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell fired back: «Every action taken by the Department is deliberate, lawful, and precise. (Department of War)

«In each case, the vessel was assessed by the U.S. intelligence community to be affiliated with a designated terrorist organization engaged at that time in trafficking illicit drugs, which could ultimately be used to kill Americans,» White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. 

VENEZUELA HUMAN RIGHTS HIT NEW LOW AS US PUTS $50M BOUNTY ON MADURO’S HEAD: STATE DEPARTMENT

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A White House official suggested to the Associated Press that they had been «much more forthcoming» than President Barack Obama’s administration was when it authorized strikes on militants in the Middle East.

Trump insists the strikes are saving tens of thousands of lives.

«A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory,» he said after an Oct. 14 strike.

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Donald Trump speaks in front of an American flag

Trump insists the strikes are saving tens of thousands of lives.»A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory,» he said after an Oct. 14 strike. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Defense experts believe it will be up to Congress to decide if they want to demand more information about the strikes, which have killed more than 30 people.

Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called for his committee to hold a panel on the strikes on Monday.

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«President Trump and his administration continue to fail to answer pressing questions regarding the president’s orders to carry out lethal U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea,» Smith said in a statement.

«They have failed to demonstrate the legality of these strikes, provide transparency on the process used or even a list of cartels that have been designated as terrorist organizations,» he added. «We have also yet to see any evidence to support the president’s unilateral determinations that these vessels or their activities posed imminent threats to the United States of America that warranted military force rather than law enforcement-led interdiction.»

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La muerte del capo narco Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho”: Washington dice que es “un gran acontecimiento” para México, Estados Unidos y América Latina

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«Se me ha informado que fuerzas de seguridad mexicanas han matado a ‘El Mencho’, uno de los capos de la droga más sanguinarios», dijo en la red X, Christopher Landau, subsecretario de Estado de ese país. «Esto es un gran hito para México, Estados Unidos, América Latina y el mundo (…). Los buenos somos más que los malos. Felicidades a las fuerzas del orden público de la gran nación mexicana», añadió.

El ejército mexicano anunció este domingo que mató al poderoso capo del narcotráfico Nemesio Oseguera «El Mencho», líder del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), tras un violento operativo que conmovió al estado de Jalisco.

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La muerte del «Mencho» ocurre en medio de la presión del gobierno del presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, para que México frene el envío de drogas, en particular del fentanilo, a su país.

Trump ha amagado en varias ocasiones con aranceles a las exportaciones mexicanas, al señalar que el gobierno de la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum no ha hecho lo suficiente para combatir al narcotráfico.

«El Mencho», de 59 años, era uno de los capos más buscados por México y Estados Unidos, que ofrecía una recompensa de 15 millones de dólares. Era uno de los líderes narco más importantes en actividad tras el arresto de los fundadores del Cártel de Sinaloa, Joaquín Guzmán «El Chapo» e Ismael «Mayo» Zambada, actualmente en prisión en Estados Unidos.

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El ejército dijo en un comunicado que el «Mencho» resultó herido en un enfrentamiento con militares en la localidad de Tapalpa, en Jalisco (oeste), y murió «durante su traslado vía aérea a la Ciudad de México».

El ejército añadió que, para la ejecución de esta operación, «además de los trabajos de inteligencia militar central» (…) «se contó con información complementaria» por parte de autoridades estadounidenses.

En total, murieron siete delincuentes y tres militares resultaron heridos. Dos miembros del CJNG fueron detenidos y se incautó diverso armamento, como lanzacohetes capaces de derribar aeronaves y destruir vehículos blindados, según la misma fuente.

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Sujetos armados bloquearon con autos y camiones incendiados distintas vías de Jalisco, en respuesta al operativo de fuerzas federales en la región. Por la tarde se veían restos de vehículos calcinados y otros aún en llamas en varias carreteras, en medio del sonido de las sirenas de las fuerzas de seguridad.

Las autoridades han señalado que 21 bloqueos carreteros siguen activos. El ejército añadió que elementos militares se concentran en los estados aledaños a Jalisco «para reforzar la seguridad».

El estado de Jalisco, que recibirá cuatro partidos del Mundial de Fútbol de 2026, ordenó la cancelación de eventos masivos este domingo y la suspensión de clases presenciales para el lunes.

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En Guadalajara, capital de Jalisco, diversos negocios, desde farmacias hasta tiendas de conveniencia y gasolineras, cerraron sus puertas y las calles lucen semivacías, constató la AFP.

«Llegaron unos sujetos armados, vi la pistola y dijeron que nos saliéramos, nos salimos y tenían un carro con las puertas abiertas. Pensé que nos iban a secuestrar, corrí para enfrente a un puesto de tacos y me resguardé con ellos», dijo a AFP María Medina, quien trabaja en una tienda de conveniencia que fue incendiada por sujetos armados.

Los bloqueos por el operativo en el que murió Oseguera se extendieron también al balneario de Puerto Vallarta y al vecino estado de Michoacán, en donde su organización tiene presencia.

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El cártel del «Mencho» fue formado en 2009 y se convirtió en una de las bandas del narcotráfico más violentas de México, según información del Departamento de Justicia estadounidense.

Estados Unidos ha nombrado a ese cártel como una organización terrorista y lo acusa del tráfico de cocaína, heroína, metanfetamina y fentanilo.

Oseguera es también un viejo conocido del actual secretario de Seguridad Pública federal, Omar García Harfuch. El 20 de junio de 2020 el «Mencho» ordenó un inédito asalto armado contra Harfuch en calles de Ciudad de México. El funcionario resultó herido y tres personas murieron, entre ellos dos escoltas.

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Thomas rips Supreme Court tariffs ruling, says majority ‘errs’ on Constitution

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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ripped the court’s decision blocking President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency law to impose sweeping tariffs on trading partners, calling it a fundamental misread of both the governing statute and the Constitution’s separation of powers.

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«As (Kavanaugh) explains, the Court’s decision … cannot be justified as a matter of statutory interpretation. Congress authorized the President to ‘regulate … importation,’» Thomas wrote in his dissent. «Throughout American history, the authority to ‘regulate importation’ has been understood to include the authority to impose duties on imports.» 

The court invalidated Trump’s use of an emergency law to impose tariffs in a 6–3 decision Friday morning after weeks of Trump championing that the court should rule in his favor as part of his larger effort to boost the economy, jobs and bring down costs for Americans. Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito joined Justice Brett Kavanaugh in dissenting from the ruling, with Thomas also offering his own separate dissent. 

The majority of the court ruled Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president, even after declaring a national emergency, to impose tariffs — and that Congress did not speak clearly enough to transfer its tariff-and-tax power to the executive branch.

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TRUMP RESPONDS TO SUPREME COURT RULING REJECTING SWEEPING TARIFFS POWERS: ‘A DISGRACE’

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a blistering dissent Feb. 20, 2026, after the Supreme Court found President Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is a 1977 law that allows the president, after declaring a national emergency in response to foreign threats, to regulate or block certain economic transactions and property interests, such as by imposing sanctions. 

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«The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,» Supreme Court Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. «In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.»

TRUMP’S TARIFF REVENUES HIT RECORD HIGHS AS SUPREME COURT DEALS MAJOR BLOW

In his dissent, Thomas argued that nondelegation doctrine is a narrow constraint, saying a line is crossed only when Congress delegates «core» power to make rules triggering deprivations of «life, liberty, or property» — not «from delegating other kinds of power,» such as tariffs. 

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The nondelegation doctrine forbids Congress from delegating core legislative power to the president. 

Supreme Court exterior during daytime

The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

«As I suggested over a decade ago, the nondelegation doctrine does not apply to ‘a delegation of power to make rules governing private conduct in the area of foreign trade,’ including rules imposing duties on imports,» Thomas wrote. «Therefore, to the extent that the Court relies on ‘separation of powers principles’ to rule against the President is mistaken.» 

SUPREME COURT RULES ON TRUMP TARIFFS IN MAJOR TEST OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH POWERS

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Thomas pointed to President Nixon’s 1971 import surcharge as a real-world test case that was later upheld in United States v. Yoshida Int’l under IEEPA’s predecessor statute, the Trading with the Enemy Act.

Nixon announced a 10% across-the-board import surcharge on foreign nations in 1971, with the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals upholding the policy under the same «regulate … importation» language in 1975.

President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order imposing tariffs during a Rose Garden trade announcement.

President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order imposing tariffs on imported goods during a «Make America Wealthy Again» trade announcement event in the White House Rose Garden April 2, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

«The meaning of that phrase was beyond doubt by the time that Congress enacted this statute, shortly after President Nixon’s highly publicized duties on imports were upheld based on identical language,» Thomas wrote. 

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«The statute that the President relied on therefore authorized him to impose the duties on imports at issue in these cases,» Thomas wrote, adding that Kavanaugh «makes clear that the Court errs in concluding otherwise.»

Trump unveiled his tariff policies in April 2025, which have come with repeatedly updated deals with foreign nations, as a tool to bring parity to U.S. trade policy and encourage businesses to open up shop on U.S. soil as part of an American manufacturing renaissance to boost the job market and the economy. 

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Trump, in recent months, has repeatedly promoted that the Supreme Court rule in his favor, warning just Thursday during a trip to a steel factory in Georgia that «without tariffs, this country would be in such trouble right now.»

The president held a press conference shortly after the decision on Friday, announcing a 10% global tariff, while underscoring that the «Supreme Court did not overrule tariffs,» but «merely overruled a particular use of IEEPA tariffs.» 

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Iran could ‘activate’ Hezbollah if US targets regime, Trump’s inner circle to decide: expert

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has tightened control over Hezbollah in the Middle East amid looming prospects of potential U.S. strikes, according to reports.

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According to the Jerusalem Post, the tactical shift comes as Hezbollah and Iran prepare for military confrontation in the region, with analysts warning that if Washington specifically strikes the regime, Hezbollah is ready to be «activated.»

«If the regime in Tehran feels threatened, the likelihood of unleashing Hezbollah against Israel and U.S. regional assets increases substantially,» Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital. 

«Hezbollah would not be activated right away, unless the attack immediately targets the leadership of the Islamic Republic. But as part of a graduated response, Hezbollah will likely be seen as an asset,» he said.

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«If it faces an existential risk, then Iran may throw caution to the wind and try to deploy Hezbollah to the maximum,» Harrison, author of «Decoding Iran’s Foreign Policy» explained.

IRAN SIGNALS NUCLEAR PROGRESS IN GENEVA AS TRUMP CALLS FOR FULL DISMANTLEMENT

«As part of a graduated response, Hezbollah will likely be seen as an asset,» Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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President Donald Trump previously gave Iran a deadline of 10 to 15 days to respond to a deal, raising questions about what steps Washington could take if Tehran fails to comply.

A new round of talks is now scheduled for Thursday in Geneva and expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program, including uranium enrichment levels and sanctions relief.

«The decision-making circle in the White House is very small regarding Iran, with the president keeping a close hand on it all,» Harrison explained.

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He added that any decision to directly target the Iranian regime would likely rest within Trump’s inner circle of advisers.

«Normally there is input from the National Security Council and the wider intelligence community,» Harrison said. «Since the decision-making process in the White House is opaque, it is hard to know how much of this is getting through.»

WITKOFF WARNS IRAN IS ‘A WEEK AWAY’ FROM ‘BOMB-MAKING MATERIAL’ AS TRUMP WEIGHS ACTION

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Donald Trump; Ayatollah of Iran

Another round of talks between the U.S. and Iran is slated for Thursday in Geneva. (Getty Images)

«If the U.S. is engaging with the Saudis and Emiratis, they are getting warnings about the possibility of this war spreading to the broader region, which would be deleterious to the U.S. and its allies,» he added.

Harrison also warned that there was «potential for attacks to spread across the region, to Israel through direct Iranian ballistic attacks and via Hezbollah, and to the Gulf Arab states through Iran directly and possibly via the Houthis from Yemen.»

Regional media reports also suggest Iran’s ties with Hezbollah are strengthening. Sources told Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that IRGC officers have been rebuilding Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and managing strategic war plans.

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The coordination follows changes within Hezbollah’s leadership, Harrison explained.

«Since the killing by Israel of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last year, ties and operational coordination have to some degree been reestablished,» he said.

«The IRGC has supported Hezbollah in Lebanon for decades,» he said, adding that efforts to reestablish ties appear to be occurring «particularly in light of the destruction of Iran’s nuclear sites last June.»

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IRAN DRAWS MISSILE RED LINE AS ANALYSTS WARN TEHRAN IS STALLING US TALKS

A poster showing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is displayed in Beirut, below a flag bearing the image of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

«Since the killing by Israel of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last year, ties and operational coordination have to some degree been reestablished,» Harrison said. (Marwan Naamani/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

«Iran is trying to resurrect lost assets, such as its missile program and its connections to Hezbollah,» Harrison said.

«Hezbollah has been seen for decades by Iran as a deterrence asset against an Israeli or American attack. Since Hezbollah has its own interests, connected to but separate from Iran, whether its leadership will go all the way for Tehran is unknown,» he concluded.

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The developments surrounding Hezbollah and the IRGC came as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed close ally Ali Larijani as the country’s de facto leader, according to reports.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

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