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Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday, his newest retaliation after Petro accused the US of murdering an harmless man.
What occurred? Petro accused Trump in a social media put up of getting dedicated “homicide” and violated Colombia’s sovereignty by killing Alejandro Carranza, a fisherman and Colombian citizen, in one of many a minimum of 10 US strikes on alleged “drug boats” since early September.
The US hasn’t supplied any details about the way it’s selecting its targets, solely insisting that they are drug boats stuffed with cartel members — however quite than responding to Petro’s declare by releasing opposite proof, Trump is lashing out towards the accusations. Along with sanctioning Petro, his household, and Colombia’s overseas minister, he additionally introduced on Sunday that the US would droop help to Colombia.
Petro joins a brief record of different overseas leaders to be personally focused for US sanctions, together with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
What’s the context? The continuing boat strikes, which have killed a minimum of 43 individuals up to now, are half of a bigger Trump administration marketing campaign towards drug cartels, centering on Venezuela. The administration has argued it’s justified in utilizing lethal drive due to a fictitious “noninternational armed battle” towards drug cartels.
Trump has additionally deployed an more and more giant navy presence to the Caribbean, together with an plane provider strike group deployed on Friday.
Why does this matter? These assaults are nearly actually unlawful, and so they signify an awfully broad energy seize by the Trump administration. It’s not regular for a president to have the ability to kill his perceived enemies at will, wherever all over the world, with barely a pretense of justification. And it’s not regular to make use of the sanctions record as a software of presidential pique, as an alternative of a severe overseas coverage software to handle unhealthy actors.
And with that, it’s time to sign off…
Let’s wrap up the week with a music suggestion: I’ve had Brandi Carlile’s glorious new album, Returning To Myself, on repeat for a lot of the day, and I believe my favourite track from it may be “Church & State.” This dwell model at Purple Rocks Amphitheatre is particularly nice. Have a terrific weekend and we’ll see you again right here on Monday!
