U.S. financial aid to Colombia has been cut off, according to a strongly worded post by President Trump who accused President Gustavo Petro of “encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields” despite the South American country receiving subsidies.
Writing on Truth Social, the White House incumbent announced that “as of today, these payments, or any other form of payment, or subsidies, will no longer be made to Colombia”.
Petro for his part took to Twitter to defend his track record on drugs reduction, claiming reduced coca cultivation during his administration, and that his controversial Total Peace process – which many see as a failed initiative leading to an increase of criminal gangs across the country – may still bear fruit.
“Trying to push for peace does not make one a drug trafficker,” he said.
Trump’s serious accusations, and threat of aid suspension follow an awkward week for U.S.-Colombian relations, with a violent protest march against the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá on Friday and revelations that some of the boats and crews attacked by U.S. navy ships in the Caribbean in recent weeks have been of Colombian origin.
Symbolic gesture
The spat follows a history of tension between the two leaders, often played out on social media, since Trump took office. In September, Washington ‘decertified’ Colombia as a drug cooperation partner in a largely symbolic gesture which criticized Petro but stopped short of sanctions. Trump’s administration was also careful to praise Colombian law enforcement working on the front lines of the drugs war.
Less than two weeks later, the U.S. cancelled Petro’s visa after he used a megaphone to address a pro-Palestinian rally in New York, soon after the UN General Assembly.
The current war of words follows a campaign of U.S. attacks on suspected drug boats and the deployment of forces near the Venezuelan coast, ostensibly to block drug trafficking but widely seen as a tilt at regime change in Caracas.
Trump’s attack on Petro came after he accused the U.S. of homicide in killing a Colombian in an airstrike, as the U.S. seems to be widening its net across the Caribbean.
Fisherman bombed
This weekend a Colombian state television journalist in the coastal city of Santa Marta reported that one of the early strikes, on September 15, killed fisherman Alejandro Carranza.
Audenis Manjarrés, cousin of said Carranza, said the Colombian citizen had been missing since leaving on a boat from the seaport on September 14. Video released of the stricken craft showed a large seagoing launch with two large motors, but stationary in the water at the time of the lethal attack, with one motor pulled clear of the water. In a video released by the U.S. government, the craft was obliterated killing three crew.
“It’s not fair that they bombed him in this way,” Manjares told Señal Colombia, describing her cousin as a “life-long fisherman”.
Following the report Petro doubled down accusing the U.S. military of “killing a humble fisherman”.
“The U.S. has offended Colombian national territory and murdered an honest, hardworking Colombian. Let the sword of Bolívar be lifted!,” he tweeted, invoking Latin American liberator Simón Bolívar.
ELN boat attacked
Petro response spoke to a wider issue: that while the US’s Department of War has repeatedly claimed it has strong intelligence to identify drug boats, it has so far failed to publicize evidence and or provide a legal framework for the attacks even as 30 victims have mounted from Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia and Ecuador.
Also this weekend another Colombian that survived an October 16 aerial attack was repatriated by the U.S. to Colombia, this time from a semi-submersible drug boat especially designed to float below water level and avoid detection. One other Ecuadorian crew member survived and two of unknown nationality were killed.
Another attack on October 17th killed “three male narco-terrorists” according to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, “affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility”.
The ELN is a Colombian guerrilla group, involved in drug trafficking and also present in Venezuela. It was unclear from Hegseth’s comments where the boat was attacked, given that USSOUTHCOM – the U.S. Southern Command – covers military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
What happens next?
Clearly Petro has got under Trump’s skin while burnishing his own reputation as a rare leader prepared to stand up the U.S. president. How and when Trump’s threatened aid cuts will take place is not clear.
The U.S. has sent Colombia roughly $14.2 billion in aid since 2000, according to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), 64% of which was security assistance in the war against drug cartels.
A lot could hinge on details that might emerge in coming weeks over the exact nature of the boats attacked by the U.S. navy: Colombians will likely support their president condemning the murder of fishermen on the high seas, but not shed too many tears over the sinking of go-fast boats carrying tons of drugs.
The ball is now in Trump’s court for SOUTHCOM to prove who they targeted, and why they needed lethal force; the U.S. navy and coastguard have for decades boarded drug boats and arrested crews without the need to use missiles. Colombia will demand answers.
Featured image: Photo of a launch blown up seconds later by a missile. Videos proved the boat to be stationary at the time. Following TV reports, Colombia’s president has claimed the boat was fishing in Colombian waters when it destroyed.
Image credit: U.S. Navy
This article originally appeared on The Bogotá Post and was republished with permission.
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