US decertifies Colombia as ally in drugs fight
WASHINGTON
The United States said on Sept. 15 it has decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs, a decision that could cost Bogota hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military support.
Despite decades of close alliance in the so-called war on drugs, U.S. President Donald Trump slammed his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro for not only failing to curb cocaine production, but overseeing its surge to "all-time records," according to a signed determination the White House sent to Congress on Sept. 15.
"Under President Petro's leadership, coca cultivation and cocaine production have reached record highs while Colombia's government failed to meet even its own vastly reduced coca eradication goals, undermining years of mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries against narco-terrorists," Trump wrote.
Washington has conducted assessments annually since 1986 on the anti-narcotics efforts of some 20 drug-producing and distributing countries.
In the case of Colombia, the U.S. assistance for anti-narcotics efforts reached some $380 million annually, a figure which is now in jeopardy.
In a meeting with his cabinet, leftist Petro confirmed the change, saying "the United States is decertifying us after dozens of deaths of police officers and soldiers" in the fight against drug cartels and leftist guerrillas funded by drug trafficking.
Since coming to power in 2022, Petro has championed a paradigm shift in the U.S.-led war on drugs, which he considers a failure, to focus on the social problems that fuel drug trafficking.
Since 2022, coca cultivation has increased by about 70 percent, according to Colombian government and United Nations estimates.
To regain the designation, Trump called on Colombia's government to take "more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking."
