Colombia on Monday said its ambassador to the United States had been recalled, as a public feud between the nations’ leaders heats up with President Donald Trump revoking aid and threatening punishing tariffs.
Trump on Sunday vowed to end aid to the South American nation, a historically close US partner, accusing his leftist Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro of being an “illegal drug leader.”
He also said he would be making an announcement on tariffs targeting Colombia on Monday.
The threats came as the United States announced it had struck another alleged drug-running vessel in international waters, killing three people.
The boat was affiliated with a Colombian armed group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
That strike came on the heels of another attack — on a semi-submersible vessel — that left two survivors, one of whom was Colombian.
Petro, who has clashed with Trump since the US leader returned to power in January, has fiercely criticized the deadly anti-drug campaign in the Caribbean.
He has accused Trump of murder and of violating Colombia’s sovereignty.
Colombia’s Ambassador Daniel Garcia Pena has already returned to Bogota, the foreign ministry said Monday in a statement, adding Petro’s government would be making further announcements during the day.
Until now, Colombia has received more US aid than any other country in South America — $740 million in 2023, according to US government figures. Half of this went to fighting drug trafficking.
The harsh verbal exchanges have taken relations between two historic allies to their lowest point in decades.
Last month, Washington announced it had decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs. Colombia hit back by halting arms purchases from the United States, its biggest military partner.
Since coming to power in 2022, leftist Petro has championed a paradigm shift in the US-led war on drugs, away from forced eradication to focus on the social problems that fuel drug trafficking.
Under his watch, cultivation of coca, the raw material of cocaine, has increased by about 70 percent, according to the Colombian government and United Nations estimates.
By BBC News
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