Relations between the U.S. and Colombia—longtime security allies—have frayed after President Donald Trump said the Latin American country has failed to crack down on cocaine production.
Trump decertified Colombia as a partner in the war on drugs and listed the country as a rogue drug nation, joining the ranks of Afghanistan, Bolivia, Myanmar, and Venezuela. The move, which comes amid a global cocaine boom and a sweeping Trump Administration crackdown on drug trafficking, triggered a fiery response from Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“Simply put, the USA is meddling in Colombia’s internal politics, wanting a puppet president,” Petro posted on X on Tuesday. “The Colombian people will respond, deciding whether they want a puppet president … or a free and sovereign nation.”
Colombia also suspended its arm purchases from the U.S. on Tuesday.
Here’s what to know about the tattering relations between Colombia and the U.S.
Trump’s drug crackdown targets Latin America
Trump submitted a presidential determination to Congress on Monday designating Colombia as having failed to curb the supply of cocaine.
The President has to identify countries responsible for producing or trafficking large amounts of narcotics to the U.S. as part of the 1961 U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, in order to determine whether countries that fail to meet drug control obligations should face sanctions.
Decertifying a U.S. partner is a largely symbolic move that mainly affects the reputation of a country, but can be accompanied by sanctions including cuts to U.S. aid and the automatic denial of loans and credits from international development banks, according to the Washington Office on Latin America. In Colombia’s case, however, the determination included a waiver noting that U.S. military and humanitarian assistance to the country is still considered a critical national security interest.
Colombia has been certified for nearly three decades. It was last decertified in 1997 after former Colombian President Ernesto Samper faced allegations of accepting campaign financing from the Colombian Cali cartel. It was re-certified the next year.
Trump laid blame with Petro, claiming his “failed attempts to seek accommodations with narco-terrorist groups only exacerbated the crisis.”
“The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership,” Trump wrote in the determination.
“Under Petro’s misguided leadership, coca cultivation & cocaine production in Colombia has increased to historic levels. The U.S. is grateful to Colombian law enforcement and security forces who confront the narco-terrorists and we commend their courage, skills & sacrifices,” the U.S. Department of State posted on X on Tuesday.
Petro, however, said Colombia has dedicated resources to combating cocaine production and trafficking.
“The U.S. is decertifying us after dozens of deaths of police, soldiers, common people, trying to prevent cocaine from getting to them,” he said on Monday during a televised cabinet meeting.
He added in a post on X that “we have managed to slow down the growth of crops that has been occurring since 2013.” The latest report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that the area of land used to cultivate coca, which is used to make cocaine, has nearly tripled in the past decade to record levels.
Trump said in the determination that he would consider changing Colombia’s designation if its government “takes more aggressive action” against drug trafficking and works with the U.S. “to bring the leaders of Colombian criminal organizations to justice.”
“Colombia has been a great partner, historically,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday during his visit to Israel. “Unfortunately, they have a president now that, in addition to being erratic, has not been a very good partner when it comes to taking out drugs.”
The decertification comes amid the Trump Administration’s wider crackdown on drugs. Trump has targeted Venezuela including through a buildup of U.S. military assets in the region and strikes on Venezuelan vessels allegedly carrying drugs. He has designated certain Latin American drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and deployed the U.S. military to combat them. And he’s levied tariffs on Mexico and buyers of Venezuelan oil on the basis that drug trafficking from those countries constitute national security threats to the U.S.
Rocky relations between Trump and Petro
Petro struck back at the Trump Administration in a series of posts on X.
Referring to Rubio, Petro said, “He points out that I have not been a good partner in the struggle, when I risked my personal and family life in the fight against the ties between paramilitarism, drug trafficking, and political power. I did not calculate that political power in the USA would end up in the hands of friends of politicians allied with paramilitarism.”
“It is the policy of the United States that has failed,” Petro said in another post. “For the cultivation of coca leaf to decrease, what is needed is not glyphosate dropped from small planes, but a reduction in the demand for cocaine, fundamentally in the US and Europe.” Many Colombians view American demand for cocaine as fueling cartel-related violence in their country.
The leftist leader, who was elected in 2022, has departed from Trump in his approach to tackling drug production, employing a policy of “total peace” with the armed groups associated with drug cartels. Some negotiations toward demobilization are reportedly far along, although the policy is largely viewed as a failure.
Trump and Petro have sparred on a number of occasions before, escalating tensions between the longtime allies.
Petro has previously suspended U.S. extradition requests for dissident leaders involved in the drug trade and warned Trump against military movements against Venezuela. In January, Petro initially refused to accept two U.S. deportation flights over what he said was the inhumane treatment of Colombians on the planes. He eventually relented after Trump threatened Colombia with steep tariffs and other penalties.
Petro appeared to seek conciliation with Trump with a June 23 letter that rescinded his accusations of Rubio leading a plot to overthrow him. But relations strained again in July, when the U.S. recalled its top diplomat from Bogota over “baseless and reprehensible statements from the highest levels,” prompting Colombia to do the same with its ambassador in Washington.
What comes next
The decertification does not immediately impact Colombia, especially as the waiver ensures U.S. aid continues. Colombia has received around $14 billion in U.S. aid since 2000—making it one of the biggest recipients of U.S. foreign assistance—64% of which has gone to the country’s military and police.
“The United States’ determination granted an exemption that allows continued bilateral cooperation in areas such as the fight against drug trafficking,” the Colombian embassy in the U.S. posted on X. “This decision reaffirms the importance of our joint work.”
But the decertification has already exacerbated tensions between the two governments and could reduce bilateral cooperation. Such a change would come at a time when Colombia under Petro’s leadership has strengthened its ties with China.
Some analysts suggested that an escalation of tensions is unlikely in the near future.
“Given the strategic value of the bilateral relationship and the possibility of change in the upcoming elections, the U.S. would avoid an escalation of tensions with Colombia in the current juncture,” Alejandro Arreaza, an economist at Barclays, told Bloomberg.
Others, however, have said the already rocky relationship between Petro and Trump could make patching things up with Colombia, even under other leadership, more difficult. With Petro’s term coming to an end next year and the leader not up for reelection, candidates may seek to rile up anti-American sentiment in the country or to appeal to Trump by campaigning for a tougher approach.
“You have statements and declarations [from the Trump and Petro Administrations] that are not friendly,” Sandra Borda, an international relations professor at Bogota’s Los Andes University, told the AP, “and I think what you are going to see is an escalation of that.”
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