Family of Missing Colombian Man Demands Answers Following US Military Strike

Sun Nov 30 2025 22:20:38 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The family of Alejandro Carranza, a Colombian fisherman presumed missing after a US military strike targeting alleged drug traffickers, seeks clarity and justice amid growing tensions over US intervention in regional drug issues.

Alejandro Carranza went missing after a US military strike on a vessel suspected of drug trafficking. His family, led by niece Lizbeth Perez, expresses fear and uncertainty, demanding transparency and answers. The situation highlights escalating tensions between US military actions and local communities, with the Colombian government criticizing the strikes and calls for legal accountability from the US government nearing.

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, she said.

Alejandro Carranza said goodbye to his family early in the morning on September 14, before going out on his boat as usual. The next day, US President Donald Trump announced that a US strike in international waters had targeted a vessel which had departed Venezuela, claiming that three members of violent drug-trafficking cartels were killed.

Since that day, Perez has not seen her uncle, and his five children are left without their father. The family is still waiting for answers, uncertain if he was even on the boat targeted by the strike.

The truth is we don't know it was him, we don't have any proof that it was him, apart from what we saw on the news, said Perez.

The US has initiated strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats, resulting in numerous casualties and raising concerns of breaching international law. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro criticized the actions, suggesting that Colombian citizens were killed in the attack and that Carranza was one of them.

The strikes have sparked widespread condemnation and further complicated US-Colombian relations, with accusations of 'murder' from President Petro as he insists on stopping the strikes until legal accountability is ensured.

Legal representatives for Carranza's family are contemplating legal action against the US government, arguing that international law protects individuals from extrajudicial killings, regardless of criminal allegations.

Residents in the region, including fishermen like 81-year-old Juan Assis Tejeda, express their fears of becoming unintended targets of such military actions while trying to earn a modest living at sea. The US military involvement in the region adds layers of complexity and fear concerning sovereignty, international law, and the safety of civilians caught in its path.

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