BOGOTÁ, Colombia.- This Sunday, the colombian president, Gustavo Petrostated that his American counterpart, Donald Trump, “he is deceived” when you consider it as “a drug trafficking leader”because he said that what he has done throughout his career is precisely denounce drug mafias.
“Trump is deceived by (sic) his lodges and advisors. The main enemy that drug trafficking had in Colombia was in the 21st century, the one that revealed its relations with the political power of Colombia. That was me,” wrote Petro in X after Trump announced that he was cutting off financial aid to Colombia due to its inaction in the fight against drug trafficking.
Trump is deceived by his lodges and advisors. The main enemy that drug trafficking had in Colombia was in the 21st century, which revealed its relations with the political power of Colombia. That was me.
I recommend Trump read Colombia well and determine where…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 19, 2025
The US president today referred to Petro as “a drug trafficking leader who encourages the massive production of drugs, both in large and small fields, throughout Colombia,” in a new chapter of the differences between the two due to Washington’s military deployment in the Caribbean, near Venezuela, where at least six boats supposedly carrying drugs have been sunk, leaving nearly 30 dead.
In Trump’s opinion, drug trafficking is “Colombia’s biggest business and Petro does nothing to stop it” despite US aid, whose payments he said “will stop being made to Colombia” starting today.
“I recommend that Trump read Colombia well and determine where the drug traffickers are and where the Democrats are,” Petro responded in his message on X.
The Colombian president has been repeating for weeks that his Government has “reduced the growth rate of coca leaf crops to almost zero,” in response to the Trump Administration’s decision, on September 15, to remove Colombia from the list of countries that give results in the fight against drugs.
We have reduced the growth rate of coca leaf crops to almost zero%. In past governments there were years with almost 100% annual growth.
Today, half of the total area of coca leaf crops has abandoned crops for three years.…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 18, 2025
Controversy over attacks on boats in the Caribbean
In addition to discussions about Colombia’s results against drug trafficking, the relationship between the two countries has been clouded by Petro’s criticism of missile attacks against boats that supposedly leave Venezuela loaded with drugs.
This Saturday, Petro asked the Prosecutor’s Office to “act immediately” regarding the possibility that an alleged drug boat attacked on September 16 by the US in the Caribbean Sea was Colombian, and accused that country of “murder” for the death of a fisherman who was doing his job, whom he identified as “Alejandro Carranza, who has not returned home” in the city of Santa Marta.
“U.S. Government officials have committed a murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters. The fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to drug trafficking and his daily activity was fishing (…) We await explanations from the U.S. Government,” Petro added in another message on X.
Why, I wonder, does a national news program not care that a US missile killed a humble Colombian fisherman in Santa Marta?
The US destroyed a family of fishermen in the city that will be the summit of Latin America and Europe.
The US has invaded the… https://t.co/2poEBQ123q
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 19, 2025
According to the Colombian president, “the United States has invaded the national territory” with that attack and “destroyed a family of fishermen in the city that will host the summit of Latin America and Europe,” in reference to the IV Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and the European Union (EU) that will be held on November 9 and 10 in Santa Marta.
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