Bogotá, Colombia - The Colombian government has asked the US to stop attacking vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean as President Donald Trump's administration continues to escalate aggressions against Latin American countries.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced strikes on two boats in the Pacific that left five people dead, again providing no evidence for US claims that they were transporting drugs.

It was the ninth known attack in international waters, with the death toll now at 37.

"Colombia calls on the US government to cease these attacks and urges it to respect the norms dictated by international law," the foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday evening.

The government of President Gustavo Petro, who has publicly called out Trump's violence both at home and in the region, "rejects the destruction by the United States of a vessel allegedly related to drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean," the statement added.

Trump on Wednesday branded Petro a "thug" and baselessly suggested he was a drug trafficker leading his country to ruin, prompting Petro to vow: "I will defend myself legally with American lawyers."

The Republican also said military aid to Bogota had been cut and warned Petro to "watch it," while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Colombian leader a "lunatic."

In the statement, Colombia reiterated "its call on the US government to engage in dialogue through diplomatic channels" to "continue jointly the fight against drugs in the region" as they had been doing for decades.

Aside from the summary killings of people it accuses of being drug dealers – which experts say are blatantly illegal and amount to murder – the Trump administration has been openly threatening to attack Venezuela in a bid to collapse President Nicolás Maduro's regime.