Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday accused his American counterpart Donald Trump of “disinformation” regarding the fight against drug trafficking in this South American country, in a new conflict between these two long-time allies.
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In recent months, Washington has stripped Colombia of its certification as an ally in the fight against drugs, imposed sanctions against Petro and his associates and even called the Colombian president a drug trafficking kingpin, without presenting any evidence.
On Wednesday, Trump warned that Petro “is going to be in big trouble if he doesn’t get his act together” and accused Colombia of “producing a lot of drugs.”
“This terrible misinformation (…) leads him to phrases and actions that cannot be directed against a democratically elected president,” Petro said during a televised cabinet meeting, inviting Trump to visit Colombia.
The left-wing leader has repeatedly criticized the American offensive in the Caribbean and the Pacific, launched in September against boats suspected of drug trafficking, which left more than 80 dead, which Petro describes as “extrajudicial executions”. Last week, the family of a fisherman killed in one of the bombings filed the first international complaint against the U.S. government with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Washington says that the next step against “narcoterrorists” is a land offensive and does not rule out attacking Colombian territory.
Closer to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro than to Trump, Petro defends dialogue and a democratic transition government in Venezuela. Maduro says the real intention behind US attacks in the Caribbean, near Venezuelan territory, is to overthrow his government, not to fight drug cartels.
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