President Trump has announced that he is pulling all funding for the Colombian government’s anti-drug programs in an effort to pressure President Gustavo Petro to crack down more forcefully on drug production. Trump warned that if Petro does not “close up” the sources of drug production, “the United States will close them up for him.”
Among foreign leaders Trump has sparred with since returning to the White House in January, his tensions with Petro have been especially contentious. In the first week of his second term, Trump imposed tariffs, sanctions, and visa restrictions on Colombia after Petro refused to accept two migrant repatriation flights. Petro later relented and allowed the planes to land.
Earlier this month, Petro accused Trump of creating a “war scenario” in the Caribbean following bombings of alleged drug-smuggling boats. “There is no war against smuggling; there is a war for oil and it must be stopped by the world. The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean,” Petro said on October 9.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the military had destroyed another drug-smuggling boat in international waters. According to Hegseth, the boat was operated by members of the far-left Colombian guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Nacional. Petro himself is a former left-wing guerrilla, though he belonged to the rival M-19 organization.
Now, Trump is threatening to cut Colombia’s foreign aid unless Petro intensifies the crackdown on drug manufacturers. According to the most recent data from the DEA, Colombia supplies around 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday morning, Trump wrote, “President Gustavo Petro, of Columbia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Columbia.” (Notably, Trump misspelled the country’s name as “Columbia.”) He continued, “It has become the biggest business in Columbia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.”
Trump added, “The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc.” He warned, “Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”
The president’s tough stance follows Petro’s accusation that Trump committed “murder” against a Colombian national. On Saturday, Trump announced that he ordered the military to take out an alleged “drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean. The strike left two survivors, who are being repatriated to their native countries of Ecuador and Colombia.
That same day, Petro claimed that the American military had actually destroyed a fishing boat that was adrift. “U.S. government officials have committed a murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters,” Petro wrote on X. “Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing. The Colombian boat was adrift and had its distress signal up due to an engine failure.”
Colombia currently receives more than $200 million in foreign aid annually from the United States government, though it is unclear if Trump intends to cut all aid or only funds designated for narcotics control. The U.S. spends over $20 million specifically targeting drug trafficking in Colombia.
Petro, however, seems unlikely to yield to Trump’s demands. The Colombian president has called for the nationwide legalization of cocaine as a strategy to dismantle the international drug trade. “Cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whiskey,” Petro said earlier this year. “Scientists have analyzed this: cocaine is not worse than whiskey.”
On a personal level, Petro appears to harbor deep disdain for Trump. On Saturday, the Colombian leader shared a video of a large “No Kings” protest taking place in the United States, seemingly mocking Trump.
The escalating confrontations between Trump and Petro highlight the growing tensions between the two leaders amid complex issues surrounding drug trafficking, sovereignty, and U.S. foreign aid in Latin America.
https://www.nysun.com/article/trump-threatens-to-halt-all-foreign-aid-to-colombia-calling-countrys-president-an-illegal-drug-leader
