'Caribbean war' begins: Latin American nation warns Trump of armed response to bombed ship

Columbia has made high level complaints over US action (Image: Getty)

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has declared that a vessel bombed in the Caribbean by the United States was Colombian.

"A new war scenario has opened up: the Caribbean," Petro said in a post on X. "The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean."

President Donald Trump on Sunday announced the strike, saying US forces hit a vessel off the coast of Venezuela. The news comes as Hegseth insists he has 'every authorisation needed' to strike suspected drug boats.

It marked the fourth such strike in the Caribbean in recent weeks.

Trump claimed that the boat was illegally carrying drugs, reports the Express US.

He said the navy had supported his mission "to blow the cartel terrorists the hell out of the water. There are no boats in the water any more. You can't find them."

It comes as Senate Democrats on Wednesday planned to force a vote under the War Powers Act in an attempt to stop the strikes, as concerns grow over a conflict with Venezuela.

The resolution would block the US army from taking part in hostilities with "any non-state organisation engaged in the promotion, trafficking, and distribution of illegal drugs and other related activities" without congressional authorisation.

"There has been no authorization to use force by Congress in this way," Senator Adam Schiff of California said. "I feel it is plainly unconstitutional."

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has declared that a vessel bombed in the Caribbean by the United States was Colombian. (Image: Getty)

The White House defended the strikes in a memo sent to Congress last week. "The President determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organisations," according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

Kentucky's Republican Senator Rand Paul has also voiced his disapproval of the strikes, stating they should cease.

"Blowing them up without knowing who's on the boat is a terrible policy," he declared.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has condemned the strikes and recently lashed out at the US for its "warlike aggression."

U.S. Military Forces launch strike on Venezuelan 'drug boat'

"We see it and feel it, as they murder our countries' citizens in summary extrajudicial executions," she said.

Venezualan President Nicolás Maduro has asserted that his nation is prepared to defend itself.

"Venezuela has the right to peace, to sovereignty, to existence, and no empire in this world can take it away," he proclaimed. "And if it is necessary to move from an unarmed struggle to an armed struggle, this people will do so. Colonialism no more."