Fishermen spent the day in fear as the fourth summit between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Serac) and the European Union (EU) was being held in Santa Marta, a few kilometers from several cities on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. On Friday, just two days before the summit’s official start, the U.S. military attacked a suspected drug smuggling vessel, resulting in 20 similar bombings and about 70 deaths. The attack not only strained relations with Latin American leaders, including President Donald Trump and summit organizer Gustavo Petro, but also spooked thousands of artisanal fishers, who halted their operations for fear of being attacked.
Eduard Blanco Gómez is 48 years old and has lived more at sea than on land. For generations, his family has been devoted to artisanal fishing in Belgas, Morosquillo Bay, Sucre department. The small port’s main economic activity is fishing, which has been largely frozen since the end of September. “We’re not going out to the best fishing grounds because we don’t feel safe. And here we are, in trouble,” he told Blanco over the phone. More than 800 fishermen have also had to reduce their working hours, severely impacting their income.
Julián Medina, a fisherman from the neighboring city of Tolu, said he was aware of the same situation in his area, where there are at least 45 fishing houses. “How about they confuse our boats with illegal boats and kill us without saying a word? We travel the same distance in boats with two or three engines to points much further from the coast and stay in high seas for up to four days, where the risks are heightened,” he explains. He added that the weather at this time of year is usually dangerous, which adds another problem to his job. “So we are no longer facing just storms, we are also facing shelling,” he added. Medina details that the most productive location is around the Corrales de Profundidad National Natural Park, more than 60 nautical miles from the port.
The fears of fishermen like Medina and Blanco have been heightened by claims that Santa Marta fisherman Alejandro Carranza was one of at least four Colombians killed in the bombing. President Petro also defends this hypothesis. The fisherman had gone fishing just before the attack and has not returned, and there is no evidence of his death. During the summit in Santa Marta, the president met with Carranza’s family and posted a photo of them on X, in which he claimed that “Mr. Rubio and Mr. Trump are completely wrong.”
Fear of fishing has not only reduced fishing on the Colombian mainland. In some parts of Providencia, fish prices are rising due to reduced supplies. Fisherman Edgar Jay said his friends refuse to go into deep water, where the most productive points are more than 100 miles away. One of the most important newspapers in the Colombian Islands, islanderspublished a cartoon in which a man appears on a boat with a fishing flag. “The flag is to keep gringos from getting our heads,” one text reads. Signs of suspicion.
The Providencia Santa Catalina Fishermen’s Federation has made a similar point, with more than 100 people mobilizing in a statement calling on the United Nations to protect the lives of those fishing in the Caribbean. “That was our only option, to set a precedent in case something happened. Many fishermen won’t come out again until they have guarantees and feel that the Colombian military is not on our side,” Jay says. Medina, who is from the mainland, goes further and seeks help directly. “We must not forget the people working hard to put lobster on our plates,” he insists.
The situation is different for Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez. “Our fishermen are fully protected and we do not interfere in any sovereignty issues,” he told the newspaper. time. These comments have been deeply unpopular with some fishing communities, who are feeling the direct impact on their pocketbooks, food security, and confidence going out to sea.
Jay, a fisherman from Providencia, emphasizes that his small-scale fishermen are in the midst of a conflict between illegal immigrants and the military, and are the most vulnerable. “One of the threats has always been illegal fishing, and illegal fishing is a magnet for drug trafficking and geopolitical issues,” he argues. No fishermen reported receiving support or advice from local authorities. For this reason, some people stopped going out, while others recorded and disseminated everything that happened on the ship. Still, they know that just being hit by a missile is not enough.
As the days pass, the situation becomes more diffuse, especially after Petro orders a halt to intelligence cooperation with the United States. For them, this amputation represents an even greater risk, as they fear a blind attack. This is especially true at a time when trade winds are strong in Colombia’s Caribbean region from December to February, which is always a complicated season for them.
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