🔗 Share this article

US authorities has formally labeled Colombia as a nation that has “substantially neglected” its obligations to control illegal drug operations, though stopping short from halting financial support to the nation.

Annually, the Washington publicly evaluates whether several nations are entirely working together with American-directed counternarcotic campaigns, and those deemed insufficient face the possibility of having their American financial aid cut.

Recently, the US leadership stated that drug output in Colombia had increased to all-time high levels under its left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, a claim that the Colombian leader denied.

Reacting, the Colombian government declared it would cease buying arms from the America.

Interior Minister Armando Benedetti informed journalists that his government would stop the acquisition of military hardware "from this moment on".

Other states the America stated had fallen short of their goals were the Central Asian nation, the South American country, Myanmar and the Bolivarian Republic.

Colombia was added on the roster for the initial instance since over two decades ago.

The action is anticipated to damage bilateral connections between its leadership and the American leadership.

Gustavo Petro took to online platforms to reply to the US allegation that during his presidency the land cultivated with coca plants and the output of cocaine had attained historic highs.

This vegetation are the key ingredient in the narcotic, and the country has historically been the leading producer of the banned narcotic.

Research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) showed that growth of the crop had risen by a tenth in the previous year. Data for the current year are scheduled to be made public soon.

However the leader maintained that it had been during the administration of Iván Duque, who governed from 2018 to 2022, that the region cultivated with coca experienced substantial rises.

Based on figures published by the Colombian presidency, a historic over 1,700 tons of cocaine were intercepted by law enforcement between when Petro took office and late 2024. Drug seizures have persisted at a significant volume in this year, authoritative data show.

Petro also remarked that for coca cultivation to decline, what was required was for use for cocaine to fall in the US and in the continent.

The US on the other hand put the blame firmly at the administration, claiming that the leader’s peace talks with several armed groups — several of whom finance themselves through narcotics trade — had obstructed the struggle against narcotics.

"Ineffective moves to seek accommodations with narco-terrorist groups only intensified the problem," an official document sent to US Congress declared.

It proceeds to applaud the "skill and courage" of law enforcement in combating criminal groups.

The document added that "the shortcoming of the nation to meet its drug control obligations over the previous year rests entirely with its political leadership".

However, it leaves the door open to recertifying Colombia if its administration "implements stronger measures to eradicate coca and lower cocaine manufacture and trade".

And while the rhetoric coming out of Washington has clearly angered the leader, his administration will also be thankful that the designation did not cause a halt of the American assistance, analysts note.

The designation comes at a moment when Donald Trump has made the fight against "drug traffickers" a key focus.

Earlier, he stated that the navy had eliminated an reportedly Venezuelan drug vessel in international waters in the tropical zone.

A number of persons were died in the strike, he stated.

He added the United States had obtained evidence that the boats were owned by narco-terrorist groups but has yet to made that evidence public.