United States President Donald Trump on Sunday accused his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, of tolerating drug production and announced he would end “large-scale payments and subsidies” to the South American country.
Relations between the two nations, historically allies, hit a new low with the arrival in power of the Republican and Colombia’s first leftist president.
“As of today, these payments, or any other form of payments or grants, will no longer be made,” Trump said on Truth Social, adding that Petro “is strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs.”
The Colombian leader responded and said his U.S. counterpart “is being misled” by his advisers. “I recommend that Trump read Colombia correctly and determine where the narcos are and where the democrats are,” he added.
Washington last month withdrew Colombia’s certification as an ally in the fight against drug trafficking, a designation through which it received hundreds of millions of dollars from the United States.
Colombia is the South American country that receives the most financial aid from Washington, according to U.S. government data, with more than 740 million dollars disbursed in 2023, the latest year with complete information.
Half of these payments go to the fight against drugs. The rest supports humanitarian and food programs. “I respect the history, culture, and people of the U.S. They are not my enemies. The problem is with Trump, not with the U.S.,” Petro said.
Tension in the Caribbean
Petro and Trump frequently clash, and the tone has escalated since the United States launched a military operation in the Caribbean with frequent attacks on vessels allegedly trafficking drugs. In his Sunday post, Trump appeared to threaten some form of U.S. intervention in Colombia.
“Petro, an underperforming and very unpopular leader with an insolent attitude toward the United States, should shut down these extermination camps immediately, or the United States will shut them down, and it will not be in a nice way,” the president wrote.
Colombia’s first leftist president accuses Washington of violating the sovereignty of national waters and of having killed a fisherman in one of those attacks. Petro maintains that the growth rates of drug crops and cocaine production have fallen during his government and that the UN’s measurement has methodological problems.
“The main enemy that drug trafficking had in Colombia in the 21st century, the one who exposed its ties with Colombia’s political power, was me,” the president insisted.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez likewise highlighted the fight by the security forces in the coca strongholds of armed groups, where dozens of soldiers and police have died. He also rejected the “terms” in which the United States refers to Petro.
“It is a disrespect to Colombia. He is the president of Colombians, democratically elected,” he told the press. Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine and breaks its own record year after year, according to the UN.
Since taking office in 2022, Petro has pushed for a paradigm shift in the U.S.-led war on drugs, focusing on tackling the social problems that fuel drug trafficking.
