The US President along with President Gustavo Petro have intensified the rhetoric in their verbal conflict, heightening tensions between the two countries after American military units targeted Venezuela with the aim of deposing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from office.
"He runs cocaine mills and processing labs and his time is running out," the US president stated.
Growing Rhetoric and Allegations
Speaking to journalists on Sunday, the American leader suggested analogous military action towards the South American nation, asserting the nation faces serious problems and governed by an unwell individual involved in producing the drug and distributing it to the US."
Although Colombia remains the leading producer of cocaine, there is no evidence implicating Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is in any way connected to the business.
A Deteriorating Partnership
This nation was historically a key ally of Washington in the struggle combating drug cartels and received bipartisan support in the US capital, yet ties have soured significantly following Trump was elected.
Colombia’s drug trade is largely controlled by criminal organizations including one major cartel, another leftist insurgency and breakaway groups of the former Farc guerrillas, most of its former fighters demobilised following a 2016 peace deal.
Petro's Strong Response
Upon being questioned if a military operation like that in Venezuela was a possibility regarding Colombia, Trump said: "That seems like a good idea to me personally."
Petro, a former leftist guerrilla who disarmed in the 1990s, categorically refuted the accusations. "I am neither illegitimate and certainly not a drug trafficker," he stated.
"Trump speaks without information. End the false accusations," he posted online.
"Should American forces attack rural communities, they will turn into a multitude of fighters in the hills. And should they arrest the nation's leader, which many of Colombians holds in high esteem, they will release the ‘jaguar’ of the nation," he admonished.
From Guerrilla to President
Petro spent some years as a young man participating in the left-wing M-19 insurgent movement but is not believed to have ever engaged in fighting. After demobilizing, he took part in creating the constitutional rewrite over three decades ago and later became a respected lawmaker. He was mayor of the capital city before being elected the nation's highest office.
"I pledged to abstain from using a gun ... but for Colombia I shall resume the fight," he affirmed.
Heightened Measures and Cross-Political Rejection
Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that Petro's protection team was strengthened.
Several members of Colombia’s right wing opposition have allied themselves with Trump, yet figures spanning the ideological divide have condemned the possibility of a US attack targeting Colombia.
Political and Financial Strains
The US withdrew his travel authorization following he encouraged American soldiers to ignore any illegal orders. Later, in October, it placed economic restrictions against the president, his wife and various key allies.
Concurrently the US was building up its military presence in the Caribbean and targeting vessels thought to carry drugs against Venezuela’s Maduro, American military assets also carried out operations on maritime targets off the Pacific coast near Colombia.
