BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered his nation’s security forces Tuesday to stop sharing intelligence with the United States, until the Trump administration stops its strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, as relations deteriorate between the nations that were once close partners in the fight against drug trafficking.

In a message on X, Petro wrote that Colombia’s military must immediately end “communications and other agreements with U.S. security agencies” until the U.S. ceases its attacks on speedboats suspected of carrying drugs, that critics have likened to extrajudicial executions.

Petro wrote that “the fight against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people.” It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of information Colombia will stop sharing with the United States. The White House had no immediate response to Petro’s latest statements.

At least 75 people have been killed by the U.S. military in strikes in international waters since August, according to figures supplied by the Trump administration. The strikes began in the southern Caribbean, near Venezuela’s shores, but have shifted recently to the eastern Pacific, where the U.S. has targeted boats off Mexico.

Petro has called for U.S. President Donald Trump to be investigated for war crimes over the strikes, which have affected citizens of Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.Petro has called for U.S. President Donald Trump to be investigated for war crimes over the strikes, which have affected citizens of Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The leftist leader has long been a critic of U.S. drug policy, and has accused the Trump administration of going after peasants growing coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, instead of targeting major drug traffickers and money launderers. On Sunday, Petro said that met with the family of a Colombian fisherman who was allegedly killed in one of the strikes.

“He may have been carrying fish, or he may have been carrying cocaine, but he had not been sentenced to death” Petro said during a summit between Latin American and European Union leaders hosted by Colombia on Sunday. “There was no need to murder him.”

The Trump administration has accused Petro of being soft on traffickers, and has criticized the Colombian president’s decision to spare Colombian rebel leaders involved in the drug trade form extradition to the United States.

The Trump administration has accused Petro of being soft on traffickers, and has criticized the Colombian president’s decision to spare Colombian rebel leaders involved in the drug trade form extradition to the United States.

In October, the administration placed financial sanctions on Petro and members of his family, over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade.

Petro “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement after the sanctions were issued Oct 24. “President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.”

The heightened tensions between the United States and Colombia are taking place as the U.S. ramps up its naval presence in the southern Caribbean, with eight warships, a submarine, fighter jets and marines deployed to the region. An aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, is also expected to arrive in the Caribbean this month.

Venezuela’s government has described the naval buildup as a threat to its sovereignty, with officials in that nation saying that the U.S. military is preparing to launch strikes against the embattled government of Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela’s government has described the naval buildup as a threat to its sovereignty, with officials in that nation saying that the U.S. military is preparing to launch strikes against the embattled government of Nicolas Maduro.

The Trump administration has said its deployment is aimed at curbing drug traffickers, though Trump has also hinted there could be strikes on target within Venezuela, whose leader has been described by officials in Washington as the head of a drug cartel.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced Tuesday that military personnel, members of a civilian militia, police officers and ruling-party organizers would be mobilized for a training exercise to protect the country’s airspace. He delivered his remarks, broadcast on state television, standing by a surface-to-air missile system in a military base in the capital, Caracas, but no training activities could be seen elsewhere in the city.

CHICAGO – The fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has led world leaders to increasingly call for rebuilding the now-flattened Gaza Strip – but reconstruction feels like a distant idea to humanitarians that are still trying to urgently alleviate suffering despite facing funding cuts and limited access into the enclave.

Since the agreement brokered by the United States went into effect earlier this month, the United Nations and international aid groups have tried to surge relief operations in Gaza to reach wounded, displaced Palestinians. But a campaign like that is a massive undertaking when public trust and funding have tanked in recent years.

“Total humanitarian funding has declined every year since 2022. This year we’ve only had 50% of what we received last year, and we’re already towards the end of October,” Richard Brennan, former regional emergency director for the World Health Organization, said Saturday at a conference in Chicago held by humanitarian group MedGlobal.

“We can’t lose sight of what that means to people,” he continued, citing a Lancet study that estimated about 40 million people would be dead by 2030 due to the decline in humanitarian systems.

The U.S. has been a major player in slowing down humanitarian responses, with the Biden and Trump administrations withholding funding to the one UN agency (UNRWA) that has existing infrastructure in place to meet the scale of aid distribution that Gaza requires.

Israel has long accused UNRWA specifically of supporting Hamas, leading many nations to pause funding to the agency and threatening Palestinians’ access to basic needs. Despite the claim being unsubstantiated, Israel effectively banned UNRWA from operating in Gaza, accusing Hamas of stealing the aid from civilians.

Every country but the U.S. resumed their funding to UNRWA when Israel was unable to back up its claim with evidence. But Israeli officials continued blocking aid from entering the enclave.

The International Court of Justice’s most recent advisory opinion ordered Israel to grant immediate access into Gaza for groups like UNRWA, saying the “occupying power may never invoke reasons of security to justify the general suspension of all humanitarian activities in occupied territory.”

In July, the Trump administration shut down the independent U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – canceling most of the federal agency’s aid programs while transferring the remaining ones to the State Department. Humanitarian experts have long warned that shutting down USAID would lead to conflict zones seeing an increase in preventable deaths.

“The political obstacles are the barrier to addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza right now,” said Refugees International chief Jeremy Konyndyk, who worked for USAID under the Biden administration. “The backsliding on some core humanitarian principles and on adherence to international humanitarian law is going to haunt governments around the world and humanitarian agencies for decades to come.”

Brennan concurred, adding that the Trump administration’s decision to amplify a false narrative about USAID workers has made it difficult to articulate to the public just how dangerous things can become if humanitarian groups don’t have the support to create and maintain aid infrastructures.

“We’ve tried, but we’re getting drowned out. We’re getting drowned out by people within the current administration saying we’re criminal, we’re incompetent, we’re lazy and we’re immoral,” Brennan said.

The U.S. “is going to be aligning their humanitarian assistance much more with national political interests,” he continued. “So much for soft power.”

WASHINGTON/DUBAI/JERUSALEM, June 21 (Reuters) – Israeli officials have told the Trump administration they do not want to wait two weeks for Iran to reach a deal to dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and Israel could act alone before the deadline is up, two sources said, amid a continuing debate on Trump’s team about whether the U.S. should get involved.

The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on Thursday in what they described as a tense phone call.

The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that U.S. President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel–Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Israeli participants on the call included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir, according to a security source.

The Israelis believe they have a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried site at Fordow, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, said the sources. The United States is the only country with the bunker-busting bombs powerful enough to reach the facility, which is dug into the side of a mountain.

Reuters reported on Saturday that the United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, reinforcing the possibility that the U.S. could participate directly in an attack. The B-2 can be equipped to carry America’s 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, designed to destroy targets deep underground, such as the one at Fordow.

A person in Washington familiar with the matter said Israel has communicated to the U.S. administration that it believes Trump’s window of up to two weeks is too long and that more urgent action is needed. The person did not say whether the Israelis made that point during the high-level call.

During the call, Vice President JD Vance pushed back, saying the United States shouldn’t be directly involved and suggesting that the Israelis were going to drag the country into war, said the sources. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also participated in the call, said a security source. Reuters could not determine who else took part in the call.

The Jerusalem Post reported earlier that a phone call had taken place on Thursday.

The prospect of a U.S. strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some prominent members of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.

Vance has frequently criticized past U.S. involvement in conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, but has lately defended Trump against Republican critics who urge the administration to stay out of the Iran conflict.

Other Republicans, including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they hope Trump will help Israel finish destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump, who campaigned on a promise to keep the U.S. out of what he called “stupid” foreign wars, has himself seemed conflicted at times about whether to join the Israeli attack on Iran or focus on diplomatic efforts to end Tehran’s nuclear program. But his rhetoric in recent days has become increasingly aggressive toward Iran.

Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

The White House declined to comment for this story.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond.

Publicly, Netanyahu has not ruled out Israel attacking Fordow alone, though officials have not provided any details on how that would be achieved.

Four sources said it is now increasingly likely that the country will launch a solo military operation. Israeli air superiority over much of Iran makes an operation more feasible, though still risky, said two of the sources.

The Israelis feel they have the momentum and have limited time given the costs of the war, one source added.

“I don’t see them waiting much longer,” said the source.

It is not clear whether such an operation would involve bombing, ground forces, or both. Two of the sources said that rather than attempting to destroy the entire site Israel could instead do significant damage to it.

That could mean focusing on destroying what is inside the site rather than the site itself, said one of the sources, declining to elaborate.

Some analysts have speculated that Israel could use special forces to enter Fordow and blow it up from inside.

Another scenario being considered, according to a source familiar with the matter, would be to drop a series of munitions in rapid succession in an attempt to breach the fortified site, similar to how the Israeli military killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last year.

Such a strike could be followed by an incursion by special forces, the source said.

It is not clear that Israel has munitions powerful enough to penetrate the fortified facility. It is widely believed that to have a high chance of success, U.S. intervention would be needed.

But even with the massive firepower of a joint U.S.-Israeli military action, military and nuclear experts believe that a military operation would probably only temporarily set back a program the West fears is already aimed at producing atom bombs one day, although Iran denies it.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Samia Nakhoul, Alexander Cornwell and Emily Rose; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland in Washington and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Don Durfee; Editing by Daniel Wallis)