On Sunday (October 19), President Donald Trump ramped up the tensions between himself and Colombian President Gustavo Petro in response to Petro’s accusing the U.S. military of murdering a fisherman during an attack on a boat they claimed was involved in drug trafficking. Trump declared that the U.S. would end all subsidies to Colombia on social media.
In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that Petro “does nothing to stop” the production of illicit drugs in Colombia, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.” He continued to attack Petro in personal terms, claiming he was an “illegal drug dealer” who had a “fresh mouth towards America.”
Petro fired back later that evening, referring to his country’s Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez.
“You are rude and ignorant toward Colombia. Read, as your chargé d’affaires in Colombia did, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude,’ and I assure you, you will learn something about solitude,” he wrote in a post on Instagram, adding:” I don’t do business like you do — I am a socialist. I believe in solidarity, the common good, and the shared resources of humanity, the greatest of all: life, now endangered by your oil.”
The threat of suspending financial payments to Colombia is not a light one. According to data from the State Department, the U.S. has allotted $210 million in aid to Colombia, including $31 million going towards its agricultural infrastructure. The Andean nation has been an ally of the United States in the fight against drug trafficking for decades, with billions of U.S. subsidies going towards bolstering Colombia’s military and police security forces as it deals with the ravages of drug cartels in the country.
The exchange comes as U.S. military forces are being steadily deployed throughout the Caribbean, primarily targeting Colombia’s neighbor, Venezuela. According to The New York Times, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced another strike against an alleged drug boat, which had taken place on the previous Friday (October 19). Currently, there are 10,000 military members deployed along with dozens of ships and aircraft. Critics have noted that the U.S. military attacks (which have killed 32 so far) are extrajudicial and illegal, considering that they’re being carried out without congressional approval.
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Photo: Getty
