Trump halts aid to Colombia as he makes big accusations against President Gustavo Petro

Washington DC - President Donald Trump said Sunday the US is halting financial aid to Colombia, a longstanding US ally, as he accused its president of condoning the production of drugs.

President Donald Trump accused his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro (r.) of condoning drug production as he halted US aid to the country.
President Donald Trump accused his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro (r.) of condoning drug production as he halted US aid to the country.  © Collage: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP & DAVID SALAZAR / AFP

Trump said leftist President Gustavo Petro is doing nothing to stop cocaine production despite "large scale payments and subsidies from the USA."

"AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE" to Colombia, Trump said on his Truth Social platform, adding that Petro is "strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs."

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In the post, Trump repeatedly misspelled the name of the country as Columbia.

Last month, Washington announced it had decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs.

After decades of close alliance in the so-called war on drugs, Trump in September denounced Petro as not only failing to curb cocaine production, but for overseeing its surge to "all-time records", according to a signed determination the White House sent to Congress.

Colombia hit back by halting arms purchases from the US, its biggest military partner.

The US last month revoked Petro's US visa after he spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Petro has also been highly critical of a US naval deployment off the coast of Venezuela and deadly US attacks on what Washington claims are boats taking drugs toward the US, which experts have also condemned as extrajudicial executions.

Trump hints at US intervention in Colombia

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called attention to the social problems underlying drug trafficking in a bid to combat it.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called attention to the social problems underlying drug trafficking in a bid to combat it.  © Leonardo Munoz / AFP

In his post on Sunday, Trump seemed to hint at some kind of US intervention in Colombia, although Trump is known to speak with bluster with no follow-up.

"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," Trump wrote.

Since coming to power in 2022, Petro, a former guerrilla, has championed a paradigm shift in the US-led war on drugs, away from forced eradication to focus on the social problems that fuel drug trafficking.

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Under his watch, cultivation of coca, the raw material of cocaine, has increased by about 70%, according to Colombian government and United Nations estimates.

Writing on X last month, Petro blamed the figures on what he called increased cocaine consumption worldwide, especially in Europe.

"The world needs to change its anti-drug policy because it has failed," he said.

Cover photo: Collage: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP & DAVID SALAZAR / AFP

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