Lizbeth Perez looks fearful as she gazes out onto the postcard-perfect fishing bay of Taganga, on Colombia's Caribbean coast, recalling the moment she last spoke to her uncle in September.
He was a kind man, a good person, a friend. A good father, uncle son. He was a cheerful person. He loved his work and his fishing.
Alejandro Carranza said goodbye to his family early on the morning of 14 September, before going out on his boat as usual, his cousin Audenis Manjarres told state media. He left from La Guajira, a region in neighboring Venezuela, he said.
The next day, US President Donald Trump announced that a US strike in international waters had targeted a vessel that had departed Venezuela, killing three people he described as extraordinarily violent drug-trafficking cartels and narco-terrorists.
Ms. Perez has not seen her uncle since. His five children are missing their dad, and the family is still waiting anxiously for answers, not knowing if he was even on the boat hit in the strike.
The truth is we don't know if it was him; we don't have any proof that it was him apart from what we saw on the news, she expressed, clinging to hope.
The US began striking alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean in September, expanding the operation to the Pacific. So far, 83 people have been killed in at least 21 strikes, according to US statements.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the campaign aims to remove narco-terrorists from our hemisphere and protect the US from the drugs that are killing our people. However, these strikes have drawn condemnation in the region, raising concerns that they breach international law.
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro criticized the strikes, claiming Colombian citizens were aboard the boat hit on 15 September and later asserting that Mr. Carranza was among those killed.
After Petro's statements, the White House responded, looking forward to a public retraction, while Trump accused Petro of encouraging drug production and threatened to cut off US aid to Colombia.
Mr. Carranza, hailing from a large family living near a fishing village, is characterized by his relatives as a simple fisherman, not a trafficker. Despite a past criminal record, his family refutes claims of his involvement in drug trafficking, seeking justice over perceived extrajudicial killings.
This situation fosters a climate of panic among local fishermen, who now worry about being caught in the crossfire of US military actions against drug traffickers.
The residents of the region remain skeptical about the US's true intentions, speculating that these strikes also serve to increase military pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US accuses of leading a criminal organization.
As the US government contemplates its next steps, communities along the Caribbean coast nervously watch developments unfold, wondering whether diplomacy or conflict awaits on the horizon.
