U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has extended condolences to the Colombian military after a mass casualty airplane crash reportedly killed or injured dozens of the country’s troops.
SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan issued an official statement on X Monday. “On behalf of U.S. Southern Command, Sgt. Maj. Rodriguez and I extend our sincere condolences to the families and teammates of everyone affected by the tragic loss the Colombian armed services suffered today,” he wrote.
“We’re constantly reminded of the risks our warfighters make when committed to a life of service to country. For that, we’re grateful for their unwavering courage, and for the dedication to a safer and prosperous Colombia, region, and world. Semper Fidelis,” he added.
CBS News reported on the crash, which Donovan referenced:
Dozens of people are feared dead after a Colombian military cargo plane crashed Monday in the southwestern part of the country, Colombian officials said. The crash happened shortly after the plane took off, according to Colombia’s defense minister.
Soldiers were on board the plane when it crashed. It was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, according to the latest numbers released by the Colombian Air Force, which reported that at least 48 people had been rescued from the crash site and suffered injuries.
Hindustan Times reported that eight people were confirmed dead.
The SOUTHCOM message is particularly kind as the communist dictator of Colombia frequently clashes with the Trump administration.
Colombia did not send a representative to the recent Shield of the Americas Summit in Florida, and was not among the 17 nations to sign onto the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC). Cartel-tied, corrupt Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed that Trump unfairly excluded him and insisted that the United States needs his government‘s experience combating drug trafficking. “Colombia has the most sophisticated intelligence capabilities to seize goods… without killing anyone,” he complained, according to Latin America Reports.
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But the truth is not quite the way that Petro wants to frame it. Criminal drug cartels are very powerful in Colombia and control a significant amount of land, doing big business. Not only that, Petro reportedly has ties to the cartels himself. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is currently investigating Petro and has designated him a primary target as the Trump administration continues to wage war on narco-terrorism in the Americas.
Petro just seems habitually furious that the United States and its allies will not adopt his own view of his importance. My colleague Sarah Anderson wrote on March 20:
As soon as Ecuador ramped up its security plan this week, Colombia’s clown of a president, Gustavo Petro, started crying about how it had bombed his country. He claims he found 27 charred bodies, sent troops to the border, and demanded that Trump get involved. [Ecuadorian President Daniel] Noboa says it’s all a bunch of lies, and this is just Petro getting upset because commies gonna commie. He also says that Petro’s own military debunked it.
Petro was a pal of deposed Venezuelan narcoterrorist dictator Nicolás Maduro. After Maduro’s captured by U.S. forces, Petro briefly adopted a conciliatory tone, evidently afraid he would be next. But since then he has grown more openly conceited again.
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