US decertifies Colombia as ally in drugs fight

The United States said Monday it has decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs, a decision that could cost Bogota hundreds of millions of dollars in US military support.

After decades of close alliance in the so-called war on drugs, US President Donald Trump denounced his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro for not only failing to curb cocaine production, but overseeing its surge to "all-time records", according to a signed determination the White House sent to Congress on Monday.

"Under President Petro's leadership, coca cultivation and cocaine production have reached record highs while Colombia's government failed to meet even its own vastly reduced coca eradication goals, undermining years of mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries against narco-terrorists," Trump wrote.

The Trump administration has repeatedly pressured Petro, the first leftist elected to lead Colombia, and voiced hope for a shift after elections next year.

"Colombia has been a great partner historically. Unfortunately, they have a president now that, in addition to being erratic, has not been a very good partner when it comes to taking on the drug cartels," Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a sworn enemy of leftist leaders in Latin America, said on a visit to Israel.

"I think we have willing partners, if it was up to the military, the police. We've been working with them for decades," Rubio told reporters, voicing hope that Colombia could be recertified in the future. 

Washington has conducted assessments annually since 1986 on the anti-narcotics efforts of some 20 drug-producing and distributing countries. 

In the case of Colombia, the world's largest cocaine producer, US assistance for anti-narcotics efforts reached some $380 million a year, a figure which is now in jeopardy.

In a meeting with his cabinet, Petro confirmed the change, saying "the United States is decertifying us after dozens of deaths of police officers and soldiers" in the fight against drug cartels and leftist guerrillas funded by drug trafficking.

Since coming to power in 2022, Petro has championed a paradigm shift in the US-led war on drugs, which he considers a failure, to focus on the social problems that fuel drug trafficking.

Since 2022, cultivation of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, has increased by about 70 percent, according to Colombian government and United Nations estimates.

To regain the designation, Trump called on Colombia's government to take "more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking".

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He also urged it to "hold those producing, trafficking and benefiting from the production of cocaine responsible, including through improved cooperation with the United States to bring the leaders of Colombian criminal organizations to justice".

- 'Failure' by leadership -

The decertification comes amid a major drive by Trump against drug cartels, in which US forces have blown up two alleged Venezuelan drug boats, killing 14 people.

Trump's statement praised Colombian authorities, laying blame squarely with Petro.

"The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership," Trump wrote, also touching on Venezuela and Bolivia's efforts to curb cocaine trafficking.

The downgrade is a major blow for Colombia, coming as the military and police reel from a string of deadly attacks by the guerrillas.

Washington's disavowal of Petro had been expected since January, when he became embroiled in a blazing row with Trump over migrant deportations.

In Colombia, the military and police are reeling from a string of deadly attacks by guerrilla groups. 

On August 21, 12 police officers were killed when breakaway members of the defunct FARC rebel group shot down a police helicopter during a coca eradication operation in the country's northwest.

On the same day, a truck bomb was detonated on a busy street near a military aviation school in the city of Cali, killing six people.

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