President Trump along with Colombia's president have escalated the tone in their verbal conflict, further raising strains in their relations following American military units attacked Venezuela to remove President Nicolás Maduro from power.
"He has drug factories and production sites and is not going to be doing it very long," Trump added.
Escalating Threats and Claims
Speaking to reporters over the weekend, the American leader threatened analogous armed intervention against Colombia, asserting the nation is also "very ill" and governed by an unwell individual involved in producing the drug and trafficking it to America."
Although Colombia stands as the globe's biggest producer of cocaine, authorities have found no indication implicating Gustavo Petro, elected two years ago, is directly involved in the business.
A Deteriorating Relationship
The country was historically a key ally of Washington in the struggle against narcotics trade and enjoyed wide political approval in Washington, however, the relationship have worsened markedly after Trump assumed the presidency.
Its illicit drug economy is largely controlled by guerrilla factions like the Golf Clan, the ELN guerrilla group and breakaway groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the majority of whose members disbanded following a landmark accord.
Petro's Defiant Answer
In response to a query whether armed intervention like that in Venezuela was a possibility for Colombia, Trump responded: "I like the sound of that to me personally."
Petro, an ex-guerrilla fighter who demobilised decades ago, firmly denied these allegations. "I am no an illegitimate leader and certainly not a drug trafficker," he stated.
"The US president speaks without information. Stop slandering me," he wrote in a message.
"If US bombs target rural communities, they will turn into a multitude of fighters in the mountains. And if they detain me, whom many of Colombians loves and respects, they will unleash the ‘jaguar’ of the people," the president cautioned.
From Guerrilla to President
The president dedicated part of his youth as a member of the leftist M-19 guerrilla group although reports indicate that he never took part in armed clashes. After demobilizing, he was involved in creating the constitutional rewrite in 1991 and later became a prominent senator. He held the office of mayor of the Colombian capital before winning the nation's highest office.
"I swore to abstain from using a weapon again ... but for the homeland I would take up weapons once more," he affirmed.
Heightened Measures along with Cross-Political Rejection
The Colombian defence minister reported that the president’s protection team had been reinforced.
Several members of Colombia’s right wing opposition have expressed support with the US president, yet figures spanning the ideological divide have denounced the notion of American military action against their nation.
Political and Financial Pressure
The US cancelled his travel authorization following he encouraged US troops to refuse orders that violate law. In October, the US enacted financial sanctions against the president, his spouse and a number of close collaborators.
Concurrently while America bolstered its forces near Venezuela and targeting vessels thought to carry drugs to pressure Venezuela’s Maduro, the US executed operations on boats in the eastern Pacific region off the Colombian coast.
