BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels on Tuesday denied any involvement with an alleged drug boat destroyed by U.S. in the Caribbean.
"The National Liberation Army does not and will not have any boat connected with drug trafficking activities, neither in the Caribbean nor any other ocean, simply because it is prohibited" by the group's rules, the ELN said in a statement dated Monday but posted on social media on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed over the weekend that a vessel bombed by U.S. forces in the Caribbean on Friday belonged to the ELN, though Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said it was the property of a "humble family."
Petro has objected to the U.S. military's strikes against vessels in the Caribbean, which have killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions in the region. Many legal experts and human rights activists have also condemned the military actions.
In response, Trump has accused Petro, without evidence, of being a "illegal drug leader" and threatened higher tariffs on Colombia and a cut to all U.S. funding for the country.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime AcostaWriting by Julia Symmes Cobb)
