Petro said the boat passengers were not gang members as claimed by the Trump administration. He argued they were poor young people from Latin America. The U.S. military justified the strikes as necessary to stop drug trafficking.

The U.S. military started attacking boats off the coast of Venezuela on Sept. 2, killing 17 people in what leaders say is an effort to thwart drug smuggling. Trump has focused on Venezuela in his second presidency. Experts in crime, drugs and Venezuela say the South American country plays a minor role in trafficking drugs that reach the U.S.

Thousands have returned since immigration policies tightened under President Trump. Unable to afford safer routes, migrants are taking dangerous boat journeys from Panama to Colombia. The United Nations has urged authorities to protect these migrants from criminal networks.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic say they have confiscated some of the cocaine transported by a speedboat that was destroyed recently by the U.S. Navy, as the Trump administration carries out a controversial anti narcotics mission in the southern Caribbean.

Human Rights Watch and the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners in Venezuela have documented 19 cases of detainees, many with ties to opposition political parties, who have been denied contact with their families and lawyers since their arrest.

Residents say drug trafficking and fishing are common, but the strike has halted local spending. Fishermen claim they don't transport drugs but understand why some do, as fishing alone leads to poverty.

Military officials, diplomats and analysts say a main purpose of the force is to ratchet up pressure on Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, as top figures in the Trump administration call him an illegitimate leader and accuse him of directing the actions of criminal gangs and drug cartels.

The Cuban government is directly involved in Russia's war against Ukraine by providing thousands of Cuban mercenaries, making the communist island nation one of the largest foreign sources of troops for the Kremlin, Ukrainian intelligence officials told South Florida's Cuban-American members of Congress.

A judge is blocking the Trump administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children who came to the U.S. alone back to their home country.

A report by Global Witness reveals that at least 146 land and environmental defenders have been killed or gone missing worldwide in 2024.