President Trump and President Gustavo Petro have turned up the volume in their verbal conflict, heightening tensions between the two countries after US forces attacked Venezuela in an operation to oust Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power.
"He operates cocaine mills and cocaine factories and that won't last much longer," the US president stated.
Escalating Rhetoric coupled with Claims
Addressing journalists on Sunday, the US president suggested similar armed intervention towards the South American nation, asserting the nation is also "very ill" and governed by a problematic figure involved in producing the drug and selling it to the United States."
Although Colombia stands as the globe's biggest producer of cocaine, there is no evidence that President Gustavo Petro, elected two years ago, is in any way involved in the illicit industry.
A Strained Alliance
This nation for decades served as a close partner of the US in the campaign against drug trafficking and enjoyed wide political approval in the US capital, yet ties have worsened markedly after Trump assumed the presidency.
Its narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups including the Golf Clan, the ELN guerrilla group and renegade units of the former Farc guerrillas, most of its former fighters laid down arms after a historic peace agreement.
Petro's Strong Response
When asked whether military intervention like that in Venezuela was being considered for Colombia, Trump responded: "That seems like a good idea to me."
President Petro, a former leftist guerrilla who left armed struggle in the 1990s, categorically refuted these allegations. "I am no illegitimate and I am not involved in narcotics," he declared.
"He comments without information. Cease defaming me," he expressed online.
"If they [the US] bomb rural communities, they will transform into a multitude of fighters in the mountains. And should they arrest the president, which a significant portion of the population holds in high esteem, they will release the powerful force of the people," Petro warned.
From Guerrilla to Statesman
He passed some years as a young man participating with the radical M-19 armed organization although reports indicate he did not participated in combat. Upon leaving the group, he took part in drafting the constitutional rewrite over three decades ago and eventually served as a prominent senator. He was mayor of the capital city before winning the presidency.
"I pledged not to touch a gun ... but in defense of my country I would take up the fight," he affirmed.
Heightened Measures and Broad Opposition
Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that the national leader's security detail had been reinforced.
Several members of Colombia’s conservative opposition have expressed support with Trump's stance, however, leaders spanning the ideological divide have rejected the possibility of a US attack targeting Colombia.
Diplomatic and Economic Sanctions
American authorities withdrew the president's entry visa following he urged US troops to refuse orders that violate law. Months later, it placed economic restrictions against the president, the first lady and various close collaborators.
Concurrently as the US increased its troop levels near Venezuela and striking alleged narcotics traffickers to put pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro, US forces also carried out operations against vessels off the Pacific coast near Colombia.
