PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday he would cut U.S. funding to Colombia because the country’s leaders “do nothing to stop” drug production.
In a social media post, President Trump called Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug dealer” who has “low ratings and is extremely unpopular.” He said Petro “better shut down” the drug trade, warning: “Otherwise the United States will shut down the drug trade on Petro’s behalf. And it won’t be done well.”
The post, made while President Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, is the latest sign of friction between the United States and one of its closest allies in Latin America.
Preto early Sunday accused the U.S. government of assassination and demanded answers following recent U.S. military attacks in the Caribbean. The United States announced Saturday that it would repatriate two survivors of the attack to Colombia and Ecuador, the sixth such repatriation since early September. At least 29 people were killed in strikes that the United States said were targeting suspected drug traffickers.
In September, the Trump administration condemned Colombia. not cooperate Although it participated in the drug war, at the time Washington announced a waiver of sanctions that triggered aid cuts. Colombia is the world’s largest exporter of cocaine and grows the coca leaf, a key ingredient. reached an all-time high Last year, according to the United Nations.
Most recently, the State Department announced it was revoking Petro’s visa while in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly because of his participation in protests calling for U.S. soldiers to stop following President Trump’s orders. “I ask all U.S. soldiers, please do not point your rifles at humanity,” Petro said. “Please do not follow President Trump’s orders.”
Petro announced that a Colombian man was killed in the September 16 strike, identified as Alejandro Carranza, a fisherman from the coastal town of Santa Marta. He said Carranza was not involved in drug trafficking and that his boat had broken down when it was struck.
“U.S. government officials committed murder and violated our sovereignty in our territorial waters,” Petro wrote in X. “The Colombian ship was adrift, with one engine up and a distress signal out. We are waiting for an explanation from the U.S. government.”
Mr Petro said he had alerted the Attorney General’s Office and demanded immediate action to initiate legal proceedings in international and US courts. He continued to post messages about the killings in quick succession into the early hours of Sunday morning.
“The United States invaded our territory, killed a humble fisherman with missiles, and destroyed his family and children. This is Bolívar’s homeland, and they are killing his children with bombs,” Petro wrote.
Meanwhile, Colombian news program Noticias Caracol reported that a man injured in a recent strike was hospitalized after returning home and remains in critical condition.
The newspaper quoted Armando Benedetti, Colombia’s interior minister, as saying that the Colombian “will be prosecuted and he will be – pardon the harsh word – perceived as a criminal. Because what we know so far is that he was carrying a boat full of cocaine. In our country this is a crime and despite the fact that it was on the high seas, his repatriation would be the same as being prosecuted in the United States.”
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
