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Nov. 13, 2025, 7:56 AM ESTBy Richard Engel, Marc Smith, Erika Angulo and Babak DehghanpishehBOGOTA, Colombia — Intelligence “is not for killing,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro told NBC News in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday, explaining his decision to stop sharing information with the United States in opposition to lethal strikes on boats allegedly carrying illegal drugs.Describing President Donald Trump as a “barbarian” who “wants to frighten us,” Petro, a former Marxist revolutionary and one of the few international leaders willing to openly criticize his American counterpart, called the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean “undoubtedly an aggression against Latin America.” Colombia would not “pass on the information because we would be collaborating with a crime against humanity,” he told NBC News at the presidential palace in Bogota, reiterating a decision announced earlier this week.Acknowledging “the most key thing is intelligence” in combating the drug trade, he added, “The more we coordinate intelligence, the better. That is what I have been doing. But intelligence is not for killing.”Colombian President Gustavo PetroTODAYTensions have risen dramatically between Trump and Petro in recent weeks over the issue of American military attacks against boats allegedly carrying illegal narcotics in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, which have killed dozens. At least 19 strikes have been carried out so far, according to Reuters. Trump has justified them by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding America’s cities with drugs.But his administration has provided no evidence for these assertions and lawmakers, including Republicans, have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes.A White House official said in an email Thursday that it was “hardly surprising” that Petro was opposed to Trump’s “successful operations to halt the flow of drugs to our country.” They added that Trump had directed the actions “consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests.” “Despite billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars invested in Colombia’s counterdrug efforts, cartels are thriving under Petro’s failed policies,” they said. Trump called Petro an “illegal drug leader” on Truth Social last month, accusing him of being directly involved in the drug trade and working with traffickers. After Petro called a U.S. strike “murder” in a post on X, Trump said he would cut aid and raise tariffs on Colombia. The Treasury Department subsequently hit his Colombian counterpart and members of his family with sanctions.Petro then announced this week that he was suspending intelligence sharing with Washington. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted images on X of a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in the Caribbean on Nov. 6.Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s X Account / AFP via Getty ImagesThe United Kingdom has also stopped sharing intelligence because of concerns about the legality of U.S. strikes, two sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News. And French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also said at the start of a a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Canada on Tuesday that the strikes “violate international law” and were concerning for France’s territories in the region.Petro did not say definitively that the boats that have been recently attacked were not carrying drugs. “Maybe or maybe not. We do not know,” he said. “According to due process, the civilized treatment of people, they ​should be seized and detained.”“They are poor boatmen, they know how to drive a boat, they are hired in their poverty by the gangsters. But gangsters don’t sit on the boats,” he said. “Then when one of those missiles arrives [it] kills that boatman. It doesn’t kill the drug trafficker.”His government, he said, “has seized more cocaine than any other government in world history. Trump’s insult is at odds reality, how can he call the largest destroyer of cocaine a chief trafficker?” Petro strongly denied Trump’s personal accusations, calling the president “lost” and suggesting that he was being misled by other U.S. officials on the issue. “He is lost on the issue of the real analysis of what is going on with cocaine in Colombia.”Petro, who considers himself a left-wing revolutionary, added, “He is a barbarian, but anyone can change.”The Colombian president is not the only leader in the region feeling pressure. Trump has also singled out the president of neighboring Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, as a target for his ire and leveled accusations of complicity in the drug trade against him, too. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, left, observes soldiers training in Caracas on Tuesday.Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela / AFP via Getty ImagesThe tense standoff between the U.S. and Venezuela escalated after Trump sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean and confirmed he had approved covert CIA operations inside the country, a move that critics say could be a prelude to an attempt to push Maduro from office.Trump has not confirmed any covert actions against Colombia yet and Petro struck a defiant tone about Trump’s recent regional moves and the potential for war. “He wants to frighten us. Fear is not the same as the facts,” Petro said, though he did not throw his support behind Maduro, either. Asked whether Maduro was a legitimate leader, Petro said, “No, I believe that there has been no legitimate leadership for some time.”Richard Engel, Marc Smith and Erika Angulo reported from Bogota. Babak Dehghanpisheh reported from New York. Richard EngelNBC News Chief Foreign CorrespondentMarc SmithMarc Smith is a foreign producer for NBC News, based in London.Erika AnguloErika Angulo is a senior coordinating producer for NBC News.Babak DehghanpishehBabak Dehghanpisheh is an NBC News Digital international editor based in New York.Abigail Brubaker and Alexander Smith contributed.

- Latest News - November 13, 2025

Intelligence “is not for killing,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro told NBC News in a wide-ranging interview, which included his thoughts on President Trump.

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Nov. 13, 2025, 10:49 AM ESTBy Rebecca Cohen and Jay BlackmanPresident Donald Trump on Wednesday night signed a bill that reopened the government after 43 days, paving the way for airlines to restore regular flight schedules and air traffic controllers, who have not been receiving pay as they worked through the shutdown, to return to work.But it remains unclear when full flight schedules and paychecks will be restored after the Federal Aviation Administration was forced to mandate flight restrictions at 40 high-traffic airports last week. On Wednesday night, the FAA ordered that cancellations would remain at 6% on Thursday, after two days at that rate and an initial plan to ramp up to 10% by Friday. As of Thursday morning, nearly 1,000 flights within the U.S. had already been canceled for the day, and more than 900 were delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. On Wednesday, only 900 flights were canceled — the lowest number since the FAA flight reductions began. It is not immediately clear if the flight disruptions were all connected to staffing issues. Airlines have said they are ready to ramp up as soon as they receive government clearance, which includes the FAA lifting the mandate on flight restrictions. And as soon as enough air traffic controllers return to work, ensuring that the increased number of planes can fly safely.“As the federal government reopens and controllers receive their backpay, the FAA will continue to monitor staffing levels and review key trend lines,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a Wednesday statement.It’s promising that staffing triggers have decreased in the last few days, after weeks when controllers were calling out “stressed” under the pressure of working without knowing when their next paycheck would arrive. Government officials have said that air traffic controllers are expected to receive about 70% of their missed pay within 48 hours of the government reopening, with the remaining 30% coming within the week.Airlines cannot cancel and then un-cancel flights, so they need every puzzle piece to fall into place before the schedule returns to normalcy.Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on CNBC on Wednesday that he thinks flights will return to normal by the weekend. Southwest said in its statement, “We’re optimistic that the FAA will allow airlines to resume normal operations within a few days.”Fortunately, fears of an especially messy Thanksgiving travel week — when 31 million Americans are set to fly — have been thwarted, as airlines are ready to go more quickly than previously thought.Even when flights are operating at 100% again, however, the issue of understaffing at air traffic control locations nationwide remains.The industry still needs more than 3,000 air traffic controllers to fill staffing gaps and ensure that employees — many of whom were already working six-day workweeks before the government shutdown — can return to business as usual.“When the government is funded again nothing will change at BNA,” said Garld Graves, a retired air traffic controller with 28 years of experience, referring to Nashville International Airport“What the agency has been doing because of the shutdown — cutting flights, approving staffing triggers — is something that should have been happening all along at places that are short staffed,” he told NBC News.He said he hopes that the FAA and Duffy “will continue to argue, fuss and fight, like they have promised during the shutdown, to create better opportunities to improve staffing levels and give controllers what they deserve.”Airlines for America, the trade association representing major U.S. airlines, echoed Graves’ wishes and called on Congress to “ensure future funding bills do not allow aviation to become collateral damage in Washington’s policy debates.”“The FAA’s Airport and Airway Trust Fund currently has $5 billion that could be used to pay air traffic controllers during future shutdowns,” the organization said in a statement. “We ask Congress to consider legislation that would implement a long-term solution.”Rebecca CohenRebecca Cohen is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.Jay BlackmanJay Blackman is an NBC News producer covering such areas as transportation, space, medical and consumer issues.

- Latest News - November 13, 2025

President Donald Trump on Wednesday night signed a bill that reopened the government after 43 days, paving the way for airlines to restore regular flight schedules and air traffic controllers,.

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