Public sentiment is predominantly negative regarding U.S. military actions in Colombia, with widespread skepticism towards both the U.S. government and Colombian leadership. Many commenters perceive the interventions as imperialistic overreaches rooted in resource control rather than actual drug trafficking concerns. There is a strong desire for respect for sovereignty and human rights, accompanied by a collective embarrassment and shame expressed by Colombian commenters towards their government's relationship with the United States.

United States Government

Colombian Government

Venezuelan Government

Haunting_Meal296

Yes. Trump wants to put pressure on maduro. Not sure about invading Venezuela tho.


And our president has always been an open supporter of Chavez, but he shut the fuck up during elections, got elected, and now cannot even talk bad about maduro because well he hates the right wing, not the left wing dictators.

So he announced that the Cartel de los Soles does not exist, and that he will support Venezuela “or the great Colombia” in case US decided to invade. So he just deployed military in the frontier just to “mitigate” drug trafficking and that should be enough to tell the US “look we are fighting drug trafficking”

t6_macci

My guess is they're rushing to remove all the most direct proof they can of the direct collaboration between cartels and the Venezuelan military, and may be pretend they're actually fighting traffic, but they're not convincing anyone 

BOT_Negro

The US cannot invade Venezuela. Iraq required 295k  thousands of boots in the ground, Venezuela is more than twice that an there are only 4k Marines deployed in that flotilla.

You DON'T HOLD TERRITORY, YOU DON'T CHANGE REGIME. A fine example of that is Afghanistan.

What Colombia is doing in a very understated way is to close the Venezuelan border effectively, as Maduro's government will go guns blazing versus any internal dissent (and his opposition is stupid enough to do so). So Petro is trying to avoid another humanitarian crisis in his border while saving face.

Maduro also does not want people to leave the country, as he is forcibly recruiting population to his personal militia (got first hand reports of this happening in Oriente region).

NOW, I read somewhere that Russia is in talks for deploying military bases and ICMBs in Venezuela, THAT could be a shitshow and trigger a full fledged invasion and no country will support thm, not even the Russians.

EDIT: 160K troops

tokumotion

&gt; Can anyone in Colombia or Venezuela explain me what's really going on with the troops on their borders?

I can try

&gt; So, I'm trying to figure this out:

ok

&gt; The USA raises the useless bounty against Maduro and then moves in a flotilla too big to counter drug smuggling but too small to actually invade Venezuela

it’s effective for cargo ships and small vessels. which 90% of Venezuelan drugs are sent via sea because… duh and our main costumer for drugs is Europe, not the US. So, also unsure what the point is. 


&gt; Then Maduro, tries (and possibly fails) to raise a part-time militia and then, rather than make a show of his (admittedly inexistent) sea defenses, moves troops to the border with Colombia, even though he's threatened from the North. I presume the troops have orders to look like they are fighting drug smugglers even though they are protecting them and even though the USA moved to threaten Maduro and not drug dealers.

Not sure, but I am more confused at what a militia could do at all against a naval force. Different terrain; different war tactics and all

&gt; So Petro then moves even more troops to the same area, but as a gesture of friendship to Venezuela?

Petro is a bootlicker for guerrilla-like people. Pretty sure he is a joke even within socialist circles but yeah he prob did that 

&gt; Is everyone bluffing? Or do you guys around there have better insights?

The US is bluffing. Venezuela and Colombia are doing a friendly military gesture. 

But yeah it’s stupid.

LoooolGotcha

B34appy

It's a little long. But here I go. 

Colombia shares a long border with Venezuela, and specially in Santander-Táchira region operates no less than four distinct armed groups. EMC, farc, eln, clan del golfo, epl. They make money with drug trafficking, kidnapping and anything legal or illegal that makes money. They are at war with each other and with the Colombian army. 

Those groups moves between Venezuela and colombia, they don't combat the Venezuelan army and don't seem to do extortion and violent stuff in Venezuela (that I know of). Venezuela also  have their own criminal gangs in the area. 

The other aspect was "El cerco diplomático" where latam countries made some kind of blockade, no diplomatic relations or any relation for nine years, it only made the criminal groups stronger. The current government normalized diplomatic relations and wants to fight with those groups along with the Venezuelan army. The opposition wants for us to join in a war against Venezuela. 

There is a third group of mercenaries, right wing politicians and exiled Venezuelans who want to kill Maduro and are ready to take any opportunity, they tried with American mercenaries a few years ago but they caught them.

Today, with trump/rubio and the naval exercise this area needs to be strictly controlled, Venezuela sent 15k troops, Colombia already have 20k in the area but the irregular groups there are still in control they use drones and modern warfare, they took down an helicopter with a Drone just last week. 

for Venezuelans troops on the border are needed to avoid groups of mercenaries to enter Venezuela, colombia has troops to continue our war while avoiding misunderstandings false flags, attacks on civilians. 

We have currently a left leaning president but we also have a very extreme right wing that really wants to start a war with Maduro and are doing everything they can to avoid coordination between Colombia and Venezuela and create a crisis. United States senators also threaten Colombian president to put him in jail if there is any coordination. 

So the troops are there to protect the border and civilian population. in the scenario that Trump do ANYTHING we expect millions of Venezuelans who will cross the border and generate a humanitarian crisis. It will be a disaster.

Snoo_57113

1. Yea, everyone is bluffing.

2. This move is mostly to shift the attention away from internal problems. In the case of Colombia, the Venezuelan border is a place with a lot of influence from guerrillas (what is coincidence, isn't it? /s) so Petro's movement of sending more troops is likely a way to cover the fact that his attempt of peace with the armed groups was a failure and now violence in the region is the highest in the last 20 years; while licking Maduro's ass so he dosen't get mad at him for reinforcing the border

DG-MMII

[deleted]

maburro should take the room temperature challenge

Estrelleta44

Hey OP, Venezuelan ex-pat and OSINT analyst here! It's much more complicated than most people realize so bare with me and you're welcome to go down the rabbit hole on this one. 

Venezuela is in bed with Cuba, Iran, China, Russia, N. Korea, the socialist party in Spain, the guerrillas in Colombia, mostly FARC, the current Colombian president, the Sinaloa Cartel and Hezbollah, among others, and it has been allowing for the above players to infiltrate the western hemisphere and use Venezuela as a hotspot for money laundering, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, terrorist militias training camps, and over the years intel sources indicate that at one point or the other Chavez and Iran may have found uranium deposits in the Perijá pennynsula near the colombo-venezuelan border. Essentially Venezuela is being set up as a launching pad of potential insurgencies in America's backyard. This has been going on since Chavez became president in the late 90's. Now, in addition to all that, the Venezuelan regime runs its own cartel, El Cartel de Los Soles, Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Diosdado Cabello, Padrino López, Tareck el Aissami, and other high ranking government and military officials are all known cartel bosses. Think of a 3rd world Caribbean paradise gone wild wild west in a matter of two and a half decades. 

Now, you have to understand the dynamics in Venezuela to get a better picture of why most Venezuelans are for the US cleaning house in Venezuela. When Chavez took over Venezuela was the 5th largest economy in the world, the largest oil resources known to men, gold, silver, diamond and gemstones in abundance as natural resources and the potential of becoming the Dubai of Latin American, where if things had been managed correctly, he really could have abolished poverty and hunger, but instead they stole everything, the allowed crime to go rampant to chase away the middle and higher class because they knew that's their biggest opposition, which essentially led to the first wave of immigration, mostly to the US and Europe, and as things got worse and the regional dynamics changed, the lower class started immigrating illegally to other countries across LatAm, sometimes walking as far as Argentina, and when the US opened its borders, many decent people from Venezuela also came into the US, but Venezuela's narco-regime decided to infiltrate the US with criminals and insurgents, they also gave many middle eastern nationals Venezuelan identities so they can pose as immigrants from none-muslim countries, and I have heard and met at least 4 'venezuelan' Muslims who barely speak Spanish and one who'd never even been there. Oh! Almost forgot! The entire military and intelligence apparatus in Venezuela is being ran and supervised by Cuba, Russia and China, and all three also have heavy military presence in Venezuelan territory as well. 

In addition to all that, the Maduro regime forcefully disappears people, incarcerates opposition figures, tortures students, judges, innocents. So many youth have been shot by his thugs point blank in the streets for wanting a change. It's sick. Maduro and his combo are POSs that deserve to rot, who should be forced to return every penny they stole from the people of Venezuela. Bunch of incompetent animals with the IQ of cockroaches. Do your homework please. Venezuela needs a change. Trump is doing the right thing, and I have nothing to gain by saying this because I don't live in the US and certainly don't vote in US elections. I have a brother and his kids there and I fear more for them under the regime than I do if the US takes action, he's also pointed out that the alleged militias Maduro is calling are a bunch of undisciplined street thugs with zero training, many are old or clueless and the second they see one US soldier they'll abandon ship.

HannaRC

Spotted in Colombia. Presented without comment

https://preview.redd.it/48fryh745zlf1.jpeg?width=4284&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=ff7688c10c053493214830983b437a348d5d3bf8

Complex_Judgment_296

&gt;Campo survived his time in Ukraine. But death seems to be stalking him still: On a Russian Telegram group, someone recently posted his personal information including his name, home address and TikTok profile. «Fertilizer for our soil,» Campo reads aloud from one of the comments. He scrolls to a video of a bloodstained tank when a girl on the other side of the street cries out, «Daddy!»

&gt;«I'm coming, my darling,» Campo replies. **Ukraine did not make him a millionaire, as many here believe, he says. But he adds that he now has fewer worries, and can finally be present for his daughter.** Now he just wants the war to end soon – and for his neighbor José Aron Medina to still be alive.

man  did it for financial reasons, but still, mad respect to him, he defended Europe after all

i hope Ukraine does compensate well enough the families of soldiers who have died, tough

Straight_Ad2258

Colombians represent the largest group of foreign fighters confirmed to have died in Ukraine: at least 484 confirmed deaths so far 

[https://foreign-volunteers-killed-in-ukraine.fandom.com/wiki/Total\_foreign\_volunteers\_killed\_on\_the\_Ukrainian\_side](https://foreign-volunteers-killed-in-ukraine.fandom.com/wiki/Total_foreign_volunteers_killed_on_the_Ukrainian_side)

so the rumors of 5 to 10k Colombians having served in Ukraine since the war began are possibly true

Columbians in my brigade are fucking warriors.

EstablishmentNo4865

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Si este chat de mierda pudiera subir fotos, le muestro por cuánta diferencia ganamos el mundial de fuerzas especiales.. busquelo.

Careless-Climate-975

El problema lo han dicho muchas veces y es la falta de inteligencia militar, porque nuestros soldados son buenos, por algo los cogen de mercenarios en todo el mundo

Haterfieldwen

No le haga caso a estos comentarios mks que creen que porque nos subieron el sueldo ya de una nos resolvió la vida, desde que fue reducido el presupuesto mucho brazo como pie de fuerza se a visto muy afectado, viera los helicópteros Mi-17 están parqueados en Tolemaida sin mantenimiento, las misiones o cuando nos tiran por allá sea en Cauca o Putumayo, de nuestro sueldo nos toca sustentarnos porque el reabastecimiento tiene que ser quirúrgico, sea por disponibilidad de aeronave o por condición de clima para aterrizaje, mucha loka anda diciendo que Petro nos devolvió la dignidad a las FF.AA sabe? PURA MIERDAAA, la cereza del pastel... Fuera que el poder aéreo está debilitado, imagínese un hostigamiento de esas lacras, solo en base, cantones o brigadas podemos reaccionar, porque si no estamos violentando sus derechos humanos, no vio cuando agarraron a Calarcá? Porque hacia parte del proceso de paz no le pasó ni mrd, pero ellos si pueden masacrar, emboscar, atentar, extorsionar y secuestrar gracias a este MALPARIDO GOBIERNO TRIPLE HPTA!!!

UnSoldad0

coffee-yoshino

El estado financia al ejército como si viviera en tiempos de paz. Colombia debe como minimo duplicar el pib a los esfuerzos de guerra del ejercito en armamento para ver resultados. Eso si no se los roban

LengthinessOk1471

hagan sus apuestas de cuánto demora en salir otro un fracasado hijueputa a decir que están atados de manos

Pues desde que subió Petro a los soldados les dan carne...  hubo mejoras en el sueldo y ayudas [https://pluralidadz.com/nacion/soldados-agradecidos-con-el-presidente-petro-tras-mejoras-en-la-alimentacion/](https://pluralidadz.com/nacion/soldados-agradecidos-con-el-presidente-petro-tras-mejoras-en-la-alimentacion/) [http://lafm.com.co/colombia/este-es-el-nuevo-sueldo-que-recibiran-los-soldados-regulares-tras-anuncio-del-presidente](http://lafm.com.co/colombia/este-es-el-nuevo-sueldo-que-recibiran-los-soldados-regulares-tras-anuncio-del-presidente)

Ill-Strategy2152

Bueno, la verdad es que no apoyo a Petro en lo absoluto, pero este aceptar que ha mejorado las condiciones de los soldados, pero eso no se traduce en mejores resultados en seguridad nacional, al contrario han tomado más control los grupos terroristas

Ecstatic_Ad9536

Pues obvio que si, ahora es más común que "los retengan( secuestro)", ya perdi la cuenta de cuantos helipcoteros han caido, las hectareas de coca han crecido.....en fin. El ministro de defensa "canelito" parece estar solo para que Petro le eche pirobos....siguen matando soldados y no pasa nada..

Pues este es el año con mas bajas de miembros de las FFAA en mas de 10 años. La paz de petro le causo mas muertes a las FFAA que el guerrerista de Ivan Duque. Entonces no es cuestion de "guerra o paz" como lo entienden los imbeciles.

Blitzkiller

Solid_Snake343

La situacion esta muy fea, mal pagados, totalmente desprotegidos, con un gobierno corrupto que apoya la izquierda comunista y aclama el socialismo, con un presidente que fue guerrillero, maton y violador

Van_Alex_5

Realmente el presupuesto a ellos aumentó, les mejoraron condiciones de sueldo y según algunos, tambien sus raciones mejoraron (aunque de esto no tengo mucha certeza)

SomebodyNew069

Pues ahora les pagan mucho mejor, situación de qué?

REBIRTH100

Desde siempre las fuerzas especiales de colombia han sido muy bien entrenadas

Pero desde casi toda la historia post violencia el ejército colombiano sólo se basó en números, pero no en efectividad

Una invasión a gran escala 1 a 1 contra Venezuela seria una tragedia para el ejército nacional, nuestros soldados no saben que hacer si vieran uno de los t80 venezolanos

Spare_Place_1949

Si claro como si con los anteriores presidentes los soldados hubieran tenido mucho mejor vida, siempre han sido carne de cañón con sueldos miserables y pensiones ridículas, la guerra en este país la sostienen la gente pobre que no tiene más oportunidades que irse a morir por un guerra que a nadie le importa. A mi me da risa porque los petristas siempre dicen que petro es el mejor presidente que ha tenido este país lo cual es cierto pero solo porque el resto han sido una banda de asesinos, ladrones de la peor clase o unos completos idiotas, es como sacar pecho por ser el mejor de la clase en un salón lleno de retrasados. El futuro político de colombia es una mierda pero toda Latinoamérica está igual entonces ni para que ponerse a criticar a petro si es un problema estructural de toda la region

ObjectiveStunning151


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SeminoleDVM

I've seen a few idiots defend it with "Well they were smuggling drugs."

Would be interesting to see if they thought the same way if a foreign country started blowing up american boats, because they merely suspected they might be smugglers.

The answer is No. I know they'd be frothing shit out of their mouths.

MrLurid

At this point it's mass murder. Hesgeth and Trump are straight up serial killers. I don't believe they have a shred of evidence against these people they're randomly incinerating.

alloutofchewingum

Astro-Logic83

JD Vance checking in to report that when it comes to our military bombing civilians, "boys will be boys!", and we shouldn't hold this one little incident against them.

yes_its_him

Well they murdered ppl so they are correct.

Vanilla_Either

Sadly they are correct. There is no other word for what Donald Trump authorized.

BrainySmurf

I used to run counter drug Ops in the Caribbean while in the navy from 2006 to 2010. Its was very procedural. LEDET had to be onboard cause technically the navy can’t arrest anyone in international waters. We chased down 40ft banana boats with 4 out board motors using SH-60 helicopter to shoot out the engine blocks. Hunted semi submersibles for days using P-3’s. I guess now it’s, blow them up.

leave_no_crumb

dantesdad

War crimes. I hope justice will be served to these criminals.

Lock_Jaw

The USA is blowing up small, non-military boats in the Caribbean. The US government officials claim the boats are criminals smuggling drugs. Even if there is proof that the people on the boats are involved in criminal activity (there has been none provided), targeting private vessels that are nowhere near your countries borders with military weapons seems like it would be considered some sort of war crime. But yes, the USA is murdering people without just cause, provocation, or threat.


This is bad.

deeweezul

The U.S. calling it a “strike,” Colombia calling it “murder.” Same event, two vocabularies — that’s how empires lose allies, not just headlines

meninblck9

&gt; **"The Colombian boat was adrift and had its distress signal up due to an engine failure," when it was struck. He added: "We await explanations from the US government,"** posted Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

LongDukDongle

AirsickIowlander

At least one of the bombed boats was a 2 motor fishing ship with technical problems that was adrift, and by the times the family calculates it might have been bombed in colombian waters, not international ones https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2025/10/18/una-de-las-lanchas-bombardeada-por-estados-unidos-seria-colombiana-un-pescador-murio-en-el-ataque-y-su-familia-pide-explicaciones/

This_Loss_1922

***Presidentially directed murder.***

SCOTUS conservatives approved this message...

phosdick

We’re not with Agent Orange, take him, you can have him.

Own-Comment7529

Opening-Dependent512

Trump is going to get us into another war.

TwistIllustrious9901

lkg721k

“Little Hands” TACO is a war criminal and needs to be tried at ICC.

ocwilly

Even assuming they were drug traffickers, it is illegal to execute criminals without a trial.

jakegh

Jmalco55

XPacEnergyDrink

redheadedandbold

 Venezuela and now Columbia. I would assume Panama would be next.

Adventurous_Bit1325

The US government? Murder? How ridiculous. It is so much easier to fund and outfit radical dissidents in an effort to enable a successful violent coup over the course of many years to destabilize a poor country for generations. If that country has oil then you definitely need to swoop in and displace the new regime in order to install your own puppet  government. This is geopolitics 101. It’s like people don’t even think anymore. /s

goosesboy

Not an accusation if the military personnel resigned after figuring out the truth and trump is bragging about it.

fumphdik

Wouldn't the sailors carrying out the kill orders be liable somehow?

CCinCO

That’s rich. Petro murdered his political opponent yet claims the U.S. the ones committing it.

SaveThePopulation22

If they are criminals, then why isn't the US taking them into custody? Isn't this the government admitting that they bombed a civilian boat?

metamodernbookclub

So we have enough intel to justify killing them in a drone strike, but not enough intel to successfully prosecute them in court?

Yeah we’re just blowing up boats in the Caribbean the Trump admin *thinks* are trafficking drugs, but it doesn’t seem like there’s very robust intel here backing the strikes.

epicredditdude1

So... people living in America get rounded up and "deported" to countries they've never been to in Africa, but people they accuse of actively smuggling drugs into America get sent home? 

Yep, that makes sense.

fury420

I thought that they are dangerous narco-terrorists and they aren't being charged?

Sideshift1427

so these are terrorists, who should be blown up with no trial, declaration of war or due process..


but we are going to release them.... to go back to their terrorist organizations...  with no arrest or anything....


suuuuuuureeee taco..... surreeeee

ngroat

There needs to an investigation that involves questioning the survivors.

Electrical-Prize-397

The administration can't prosecute them without allowing them to testify about the war crimes they have witnessed at trial. 

Simple as that.

ThePensiveE

Making the witnesses go away - a proven tactic with Trump’s sexual assault victims.

Sweatytubesock

Serious question, why did we rescue them and not let them drown?  If we think we have the rights to bomb them and kill them in that manner, then what does it matter whether they die immediately by the bomb or slower by drowning?  Why would we do a "oh we tried to kill you, but you somehow survived, so now we will swoop in and save you from dying"?

habbadee

chockedup

Soo... they aren't drug dealing terrorists?

Promethia

John_Tacos

Wow thanks for using our taxes for this and not school lunches for kids or anything that would help the US./s

What a bunch of actual bullshit.

Aggravating-Horse225

lawsuits - massive lawsuits against the killer - would be good to see along with murder charges

neegis666

Odd amount of fishing gear in those drug boats…

dave_debenedetti

We can take that as an implied confession that they blew up another fishing boat.

Ok_Interest_9006

The New York Times is the only outlet I’ve seen that is reporting that this boat was a semi-submersible, which means it was almost certainly carrying drugs. Raises the questions as to why they’re just releasing these guys when it seems like it could be a slam dunk for Trump.

telbalo

They say they blew up a submarine full of fentanyl. Never mind the fact that fentanyl doesn’t come from South America. They don’t even bother to try making their lies sound believable anymore.

apefromearth

'Drug boat' but no one has shown any evidence to merit that claim.

FrankRawL

Blueopus2

Soooo. If you die on the boat....Rah, rah America is soon going to be great again!!! If you happen to survive, we'll feed you and pop you on a plane home!? Like what in the actual fuck! 

Oh yeah. Weren't the Mexican cartels the bad guys in 2024?

This is like some pretext for war???

monzo705

MoistService2607

Who decided it was a "drug boat"? 

Taking the Trump regime at their word? Journalism really is dead!

mike0sd

No repatriation. Releasing kidnapped victims. Stop giving a pass to them for committing war crimes

Kirazail

Repatriate.  This is kidnapping citizens of another country and sending them to death camps.

SoftlySpokenPromises

hdk49

I'm still stuck at blow drug ships at sea.  Since when and with what authority.  We have intercepted all kinds of boats.

Evening_Mess_2721

Ecuador and Colombia is going to "take care" of the situation.

big-papito

Probably trying to force a confession out of innocent civilians so he can go on media and say "SEE? THESE ARE DANGEROUS CRIMINALS THAT MUST BE EXPLODED!"

Nostalgic_Knights520

Maybe this is a precursor to weeding out generals that are unwilling to strike civilians, and in preparation for domestic strikes.

coaaal

The tension between the US and Colombia has escalated, particularly after US forces attacked a vessel linked to a Colombian rebel group, killing three individuals. This military action coincided with President Trump's announcement to cease US payments to Colombia.

US-Colombia Relations and Military Actions

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want