BOGOTA: Colombia has recalled its ambassador to the United States as a public feud between the nations’ leaders intensified with President Donald Trump revoking aid and threatening tariffs.
Trump vowed to end all aid to the South American nation while berating his leftist counterpart Gustavo Petro as an “illegal drug leader.”
He also said he would announce new tariffs targeting Colombia and threatened unspecified action to “close up” drug cultivation if Petro failed to act.
Colombia’s foreign ministry announced Ambassador Daniel Garcia Pena had returned from Washington to Bogota for consultation.
Interior Minister Armando Benedetti called Trump’s remarks on forcibly ending drug cultivation a “threat of invasion or military action against Colombia.”
Petro and Trump have feuded since the US leader returned to power in January but their public conflict has intensified in recent weeks.
Washington has deployed warships off the South American coast since August and carried out strikes against boats it said were running drugs.
At least 32 people have been killed so far according to Trump’s administration which has released no details to back up its claims.
Experts say such summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers.
The campaign has mainly focused on drug trafficking from Venezuela though attention has turned toward Colombia in recent days.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said three people were killed on an alleged drug-running vessel affiliated with a Colombian armed group the National Liberation Army.
That strike came on the heels of another attack on a semi-submersible vessel that left two survivors one of whom was Colombian.
Petro has accused Trump of murder and of violating Colombia’s sovereignty.
In an interview Petro said he trusted other US democratic institutions to “put science and truth above slander, arrogance and greed.”
Trump “does not like free men because he wants to be king” Petro added.
Until now Colombia has received more US aid than any other South American country with 740 million dollars in 2023 according to US government figures.
Half of this aid went to fighting drug trafficking making the relationship particularly significant.
Relations between the two historic allies are at their lowest point in decades.
Last month Washington announced it had decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs.
Colombia hit back by halting arms purchases from the United States its biggest military partner.
In late September the United States revoked Petro’s US visa after he gave a speech at a pro-Palestinian street rally in New York.
Since coming to power in 2022 leftist Petro has championed a paradigm shift in the US-led war on drugs.
His approach moves away from forced eradication to focus on the social problems that fuel drug trafficking.
Under his watch cultivation of coca the raw material of cocaine has increased by about 70 percent according to Colombian government and United Nations estimates. – AFP
