Colombian President an “illegal drug leader” says Trump
US President Donald Trump vowed to cut US aid to Colombia, branding its president an “illegal drug leader,” after the Colombian President criticised American strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro was accused in a post on Truth Social by Trump of “encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields.” “It has become the biggest business in [Colombia], 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,” the president said, continuing in all caps: “AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA.”
This came hours after the Colombian President accused America of hitting a fishing vessel and not a drug boat in its strikes last month. Petro said a fisherman had been killed in the attack, adding that the US “invaded national territory.” He made similar allegations more recently, claiming another boat that was hit had been carrying Colombian citizens. The US denies hthis claim.
Trump said in a post that the US will no longer offer payments and subsidies to the South American country, claiming that its drug production is intended for “the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc.”
“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 said.
In September, Trump’s administration added Colombia to its list of countries it considers to be failing to uphold its responsibilities to stem drug trafficking for the first time in nearly thirty years. Under Petro’s leadership, it said, “coca cultivation and cocaine production have reached record highs while Colombia’s government failed to meet even its own vastly reduced coca eradication goals.”
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