Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart have escalated the volume of their exchange, further raising tensions between the two countries following American military units attacked Venezuela to remove the leader of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro from office.
"He runs cocaine mills and cocaine factories and is not going to be doing it very long," Trump remarked.
Escalating Rhetoric coupled with Accusations
Speaking to journalists over the weekend, the US president hinted at analogous armed intervention against Bogotá, claiming the country faces serious problems and governed by a problematic figure who enjoys creating cocaine and trafficking it to the US."
While Colombia remains the globe's biggest source of the narcotic, authorities have found no indication implicating Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is in any way involved in the business.
A Strained Relationship
The country has long been a staunch collaborator of Washington in the fight against narcotics trade and enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington, yet ties have deteriorated dramatically since Trump was elected.
Its narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups like the Golf Clan, the ELN guerrilla group and breakaway groups of the demobilized Farc, the majority of whose members laid down arms following a landmark accord.
Colombia's Strong Answer
Upon being questioned whether armed intervention like that in Venezuela was on the cards against his country, Trump said: "I like the sound of that to me personally."
The Colombian leader, once a member of a left-wing insurgent group who demobilised in the last century, firmly denied the accusations. "I am no illegitimate and I am not involved in narcotics," he stated.
"He comments without knowledge. Cease defaming me," he posted online.
"If they [the US] bomb peasants, they will transform into thousands of guerrillas across the countryside. And if they detain the nation's leader, whom a large part of the population admires and supports, they will unleash the ‘jaguar’ of the people," the president cautioned.
From Guerrilla to President
Petro spent a period in his early life belonging in the left-wing M-19 armed organization although reports indicate he did not engaged in fighting. After demobilizing, he was involved in creating the constitutional rewrite in 1991 and eventually served as an influential politician. He served as mayor of the capital city before winning the presidency.
"I pledged not to touch a weapon again ... but for the homeland I would take up arms again," he affirmed.
Reinforced Protection and Widespread Rejection
Colombia's defense chief reported that the president’s security detail had received additional support.
Many among Colombia’s political right have allied themselves with Trump's stance, however, leaders from all sides of the political spectrum have rejected the notion of American military action targeting Colombia.
Political and Economic Sanctions
Washington revoked the president's entry visa after he called on US military personnel to ignore orders that violate law. Later, in October, authorities imposed financial sanctions against the president, the first lady and a number of key allies.
At the same time while America bolstered its forces in the region and bombing alleged narcotics traffickers against Venezuela’s Maduro, the US have also conducted operations against vessels off the Pacific coast off the Colombian coast.
