Donald Trump and President Gustavo Petro have escalated the rhetoric in their verbal conflict, increasing strains between the two countries after US forces targeted Venezuela to remove President Nicolás Maduro from office.
"He runs drug factories and processing labs and his time is running out," the US president stated.
Rising Tensions and Allegations
Speaking to journalists on Sunday, Trump suggested analogous military action against Bogotá, stating the nation faces serious problems and governed by a problematic figure involved in producing narcotics and selling it to the United States."
While Colombia is the world’s largest cocaine-producing country, there is no evidence implicating Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is directly connected to the business.
A Strained Partnership
The country has long been a close partner of the US in the campaign against narcotics trade and received bipartisan support in the US capital, however, the relationship have soured significantly since Trump was elected.
Colombia’s narcotics trade is largely controlled by criminal organizations including one major cartel, the ELN guerrilla group and breakaway groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a large contingent of whom demobilised after a 2016 peace deal.
Petro's Defiant Answer
Upon being questioned whether military intervention like that in Venezuela was a possibility for Colombia, Trump responded: "That seems like a good idea to me."
The Colombian leader, an ex-guerrilla fighter who demobilised in the 1990s, rejected these allegations. "I am no illegitimate nor am I a drug trafficker," he affirmed.
"The US president speaks uninformed. Stop slandering me," he posted in a message.
"Should American forces attack peasants, they will turn into a multitude of fighters across the countryside. If they capture the nation's leader, whom a significant portion of the population admires and supports, they will provoke the ‘jaguar’ of the populace," the president cautioned.
From Guerrilla to Statesman
He passed a period in his early life as a member in the left-wing M-19 insurgent movement but is not believed to have ever participated in combat. Following his disarmament, he took part in writing a new constitution over three decades ago and eventually served as an influential politician. He was mayor of Bogotá before being elected the nation's highest office.
"I pledged not to touch a weapon again ... but in defense of my country I would take up the fight," he vowed.
Reinforced Protection along with Widespread Opposition
Minister Pedro Sánchez reported that the national leader's protection team had been reinforced.
Many among Colombia’s right wing opposition have sided with Trump, but voices spanning the political spectrum have rejected the possibility of a US attack targeting Colombia.
Diplomatic and Economic Strains
American authorities withdrew the president's entry visa after he called on US troops to refuse unlawful commands. In October, it placed financial sanctions targeting Petro, his spouse and various associates.
Simultaneously the US was building up its forces in the Caribbean and bombing alleged narcotics traffickers against Venezuela’s Maduro, American military assets executed attacks on boats in Pacific waters off the Colombian coast.
