Source: BBC
DST News: US President Donald Trump announced his decision on Sunday via a Truth Social post, accusing Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro of being “a leader in the illegal drug trade” who is “actively promoting large-scale and small-scale drug production across Colombia.”
His remarks follow Petro’s accusation that the United States committed “murder” during a September military strike on a Colombian boat within the country’s territorial waters.
This decision marks another escalation in the growing strain between Washington and several Latin American nations, as the US military continues targeting vessels in the Caribbean Sea it claims are involved in drug trafficking.
Trump stated that because the US provides “massive payments and subsidies” while Petro “does nothing” to curb drug production, his administration will stop all “payments and subsidies” to Colombia. According to official records, the US gave more than $740 million (£551 million) in aid to Colombia in 2023, though it remains unclear whether all of that assistance will now be cut or when the suspension will take effect.
In September, the US government officially declared that Colombia had failed to meet its anti-narcotics commitments for the first time since 1996, rendering it ineligible for aid under the Foreign Assistance Act. However, the State Department included a waiver allowing continued support.
Following Petro’s recent accusations that US forces committed “murder,” Trump has now decided to revoke that aid entirely.
The State Department reported in September that cocaine output under Petro’s administration had reached record highs, and Colombia had missed its coca eradication targets.
Petro, meanwhile, has accused the US of violating Colombian sovereignty, claiming that a fisherman was killed during the September attack. On social media, he said the Colombian vessel was “adrift with its distress signal raised due to engine failure” when it was hit. He added, “We await explanations from the US government.”
The victim, fisherman Alejandro Carranza, was reportedly killed on 15 September when US forces allegedly fired on his boat while he was fishing in the Caribbean. Petro emphasized that Carranza “had no ties to the drug trade” and was simply engaged in his regular fishing activities.
Trump defended the US strikes, asserting that they were aimed at stopping the flow of narcotics into the United States, though his administration has not provided any evidence or detailed information about the targeted vessels or their crews.
UN human rights experts have denounced the US operations as “extrajudicial killings.”
The tensions between Trump and Petro have intensified further after another US strike in the Caribbean Sea. The latest attack, on Thursday, was at least the sixth in recent weeks, with earlier incidents reportedly killing at least 27 people in waters off Venezuela, according to US government figures.
The Thursday strike, which targeted a submarine, marked the first instance where survivors were reported, though two people were also killed. Trump said US intelligence confirmed the submarine was “loaded mainly with Fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”
He also shared a video on Truth Social showing the submarine moments before it was hit. Trump stated that the two survivors, citizens of Ecuador and Colombia, would be repatriated. According to sources cited by CBS News, they were transferred to a US Navy vessel.
In parallel developments, Trump has intensified his rhetoric against Venezuela, accusing its government of sending narcotics to the US. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in turn, accused Trump of attempting to turn his country into “an American colony.”
Trump further told reporters that he had authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela and was considering direct military strikes on Venezuelan territory.
