Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella asked the US Government for joint military operations “to destroy terrorists and terror networks,” said US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Wednesday.
At an event of the so-called Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC) in Panama, Hegseth said that “Colombia will join the ACCC, becoming the 19th member.”
Through the newly inaugurated president, as our president likes to say “President El Tigre,” Colombia has already requested that our department of war join Colombia in its fight against narcoterrorism.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
Hegseth’s announcement was rejected by leftist opposition party Historic Pact, whose Senate chief Ivan Cepeda said that “the US citizen Abelardo de la Espriella wants to surrender our government, our territory and our sovereignty to the strategic interests of the United States.
Cepeda stressed that Colombia’s constitution allows only the Senate to permit the entry of foreign troops to the country.
Colombia’s sovereignty is not up for negotiation, it is not to be surrendered, and it cannot be subordinated to the military interests of any foreign power. To defend it is to defend the dignity of the nation, the independence of the Republic, and the right of the Colombian people to freely decide on their territory and their destiny.
Senator Ivan Cepeda
Ahead of taking office on Friday, De la Espriella said that he would join US-led alliances that allegedly seek to combat drug trafficking.
In his inaugural speech, the president said he intends to “defeat, without truce, narco-terrorism and all criminal organizations that threaten the freedom of Colombia.”
The State Department last week announced that it would seek to send a $1 billion military aid package to Colombia to “support the De la Espriella Administration’s efforts to defeat the vicious narcoterrorist and criminal organizations that threaten US, Colombian, and hemispheric security and economic prosperity.”
