Ecuador says it has no evidence that survivor of a US strike in the Caribbean committed any crime
QUITO (AP) — The surviving The report on the US attack on a diving ship that the Trump administration accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean was announced by officials in 2017. Ecuador A government official said Monday after prosecutors said they had no evidence he committed a crime in the South American country.
The official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, told The Associated Press that the Ecuadorian man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was in good health following medical evaluations.
A document from the Ecuadorian government obtained by the AP said there was “no evidence or indication that would lead prosecutors or judicial authorities to be certain” that Tufiño violated existing laws.
The AP requested comment from the Attorney General’s Office but did not immediately receive a response.
The man was repatriated by the United States over the weekend following a US military attack on a submarine suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean. A Colombian national also survived the attack and remained hospitalized after being repatriated to that country.
U.S. military personnel rescued both men after the submarine was destroyed on Thursday. Trump said on social media that US intelligence confirmed the ship was carrying “mostly fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”
Because the vast majority of fentanyl flows into the United States via Mexico, there is little evidence to suggest it is produced in the Andes.
Trump said two people on board were killed and that the two survivors would be returned to their home countries “for detention and prosecution.”
The attack on the submarine was at least the sixth of its kind since September. The seventh attack, which occurred on Friday, was reported over the weekend, bringing the death toll from the attacks to at least 32. increased tension in the regionEspecially between Trump, Venezuela, and Colombia, once one of the American government’s staunchest allies in the Western Hemisphere.
The Colombian government said the survivor “will be tried according to the law” for alleged drug trafficking. It was stated that the man was seriously injured.
Colombia’s government said Monday it was recalling its ambassador to the United States following increasingly angry spats between its presidents. Gustavo Peterand Trump on strikes.
Tensions rose on Sunday, with Trump calling Petro an “illegal drug leader” and “crazy” after Petro accused the U.S. government of killing a Colombian citizen in a Sept. 16 U.S. attack on a boat allegedly carrying drugs.
Meanwhile, Ecuador’s conservative president, Daniel Noboa, said in a message to his US counterpart on X on Monday: “President Trump remains committed to the global fight against Ecuadorian drug trafficking.” He added that such challenges “require unity among nations committed to peace and prosperity.”
Trump justified the actions by saying the United States was engaged in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels.
He relied on the same legal justification that the George W. Bush administration used to declare war on terror after the attacks of September 11, 2001. This includes the authority to capture and detain fighters and use lethal force to eliminate their leaders.
___
Associated Press journalist Astrid Suárez in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.
