Colombia’s government on Thursday responded unusually harsh to US President Donald Trump’s surprise threat to decertify the country as a partner in counter-narcotics efforts.
In a press release published on the website of President Juan Manuel Santos, the national government responded, saying “nobody has to threaten us to confront this challenge.”
The country’s Defense Minister and former ambassador to Washington, Luis Carlos Villegas, subsequently reprimanded the government’s American ally, saying the US “has a border with Mexico it could protect better in terms of drugs.”
Luis Carlos Villegas
The angry response followed Trump’s assertion he had “seriously considered” to remove Colombia from the list of partner countries in international counter-narcotic efforts.
Trump threatens to decertify Colombia as partner in war on drugs
A decertification would put Colombia in the same category as Venezuela and Bolivia, the two countries that have openly defied US foreign policy and refuse to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Colombia has been working with both the United Nations and the United States to tackle drug trafficking as part of a peace process with Marxist FARC guerrillas that long controlled much of the national territory used for the cultivation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine.
Much to the annoyance of the Colombian government, Trump has increasingly pushed for quick results in Colombia’s attempts to reduce coca cultivation while unsuccessfully trying to reduce aid for the peace process.
Santos and Trump to meet later this month amid mounting US pressure to curb drug trafficking
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, on the other hand, has called to rethink the US-led war on drugs for years, claiming the human cost of the American strategy was too high while not producing the desired results.
Colombia’s National Government
Santos has been looking for more commitment from consumer countries, in particular the United States, to effectively curb consumption through public health policies.
Colombia’s National Government
Trump’s comment came only five days before he was supposed to meet with his Colombian counterpart during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.