President Trump and his Colombian counterpart have turned up the rhetoric of their war of words, increasing strains between the two countries following US forces struck Venezuela to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power.
"He runs drug factories and processing labs and his time is running out," Trump added.
Rising Tensions coupled with Accusations
Talking to journalists over the weekend, the American leader threatened comparable use of force towards the South American nation, claiming the country is also "very ill" and led by a sick man who enjoys creating narcotics and trafficking it to the United States."
Although Colombia stands as the world’s largest producer of cocaine, authorities have found no indication that President Gustavo Petro, who was elected in 2022, is personally involved in the trade.
A Deteriorating Relationship
The country has long been a close partner of Washington in the fight against drug trafficking and benefited from wide political approval from American politicians, yet ties have deteriorated significantly after Trump assumed the presidency.
Colombia’s narcotics trade is mainly overseen by illegal armed groups including one major cartel, another leftist insurgency and renegade units of the former Farc guerrillas, most of its former fighters laid down arms subsequent to a 2016 peace deal.
Petro's Firm Rebuttal
Upon being questioned if armed intervention similar to Venezuela was a possibility against his country, Trump replied: "That seems like a good idea to me personally."
Petro, once a member of a left-wing insurgent group who demobilised in the last century, rejected these allegations. "I am not illegitimate and certainly not a drug trafficker," he declared.
"He comments uninformed. Cease defaming me," he expressed online.
"If they [the US] bomb peasants, they will become thousands of guerrillas across the countryside. And should they arrest the nation's leader, which a large part of Colombians admires and supports, they will release the fierce spirit of the populace," the president cautioned.
From Insurgent to Leader
He passed part of his youth as a member with the radical M-19 armed organization although reports indicate that he never engaged in fighting. After demobilizing, he participated in creating the constitutional rewrite in 1991 and eventually served as a respected lawmaker. He held the office of mayor of the Colombian capital prior to his election the nation's highest office.
"I pledged to abstain from using a gun ... but for the homeland I will take up the fight," he vowed.
Heightened Measures and Broad Condemnation
Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that the president’s protection team had been reinforced.
A segment of Colombia’s political right have allied themselves with Trump's stance, however, leaders from all sides of the ideological divide have rejected the possibility of a US attack on Colombia.
Political and Financial Pressure
The US revoked his travel authorization following he called on US troops to ignore any illegal orders. Later, in October, it placed financial sanctions on Petro, his wife and various associates.
Concurrently while America bolstered its troop levels in the Caribbean and targeting suspected drug boats against Venezuela’s Maduro, American military assets also carried out operations against vessels off the Pacific coast off the Colombian coast.
