The US President and President Gustavo Petro have intensified the rhetoric of their war of words, heightening tensions between the two countries after US forces attacked Venezuela to remove President Nicolás Maduro from his position.
"He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories and his time is running out," Trump remarked.
Growing Tensions coupled with Claims
Speaking to the press on Sunday, the US president suggested analogous use of force towards the South American nation, asserting Colombia is also "very ill" and governed by an unwell individual who likes making cocaine and distributing it to the United States."
Although Colombia is the leading source of the narcotic, there is no evidence implicating Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is directly tied to the trade.
A Deteriorating Relationship
The country has long been a key ally of Washington in the struggle combating drug cartels and benefited from bipartisan support from American politicians, but relations have deteriorated dramatically after Trump came to office.
Colombia’s illicit drug economy is largely controlled by illegal armed groups such as the Clan del Golfo, the ELN guerrilla group and dissident factions of the former Farc guerrillas, the majority of whose members disbanded following a 2016 peace deal.
Colombia's Defiant Rebuttal
When asked if military intervention like that in Venezuela was on the cards for Colombia, Trump said: "I like the sound of that from my perspective."
Petro, a former leftist guerrilla who disarmed in the last century, categorically refuted Trump's claims. "I am neither illegitimate and I am not involved in narcotics," he declared.
"Trump speaks without information. Stop slandering me," he wrote online.
"If they [the US] bomb rural communities, they will become numerous insurgents in the mountains. And if they detain the nation's leader, whom many of Colombians holds in high esteem, they will unleash the powerful force of the people," Petro warned.
From Guerrilla to President
Petro spent a period in his early life participating of the leftist M-19 insurgent movement though it is believed to have ever took part in armed clashes. Upon leaving the group, he took part in creating the constitutional rewrite in 1991 subsequently becoming a prominent senator. He served as mayor of the capital city prior to his election president.
"I swore to never again hold arms again ... but for the homeland I would take up arms again," he affirmed.
Heightened Measures along with Cross-Political Rejection
Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that Petro's protection team had received additional support.
Several members of Colombia’s conservative opposition have allied themselves with Trump, yet figures from all sides of the political spectrum have condemned the notion of an invasion on Colombia.
Political and Economic Sanctions
The US revoked the president's entry visa after he urged US troops to ignore orders that violate law. Months later, the US enacted economic restrictions targeting Petro, the first lady and a number of close collaborators.
Concurrently as the US increased its military presence in the Caribbean and bombing vessels thought to carry drugs to put pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro, American military assets executed attacks on maritime targets in the eastern Pacific region off the Colombian coast.
