The National Government has continued to reject United States to the country in the fight against drugs, and assured that this measure does not know the reality and achievements achieved in that matter.
“For decades, the Colombian people have been on the first line of defense of hemispheric security against drug scourge. With responsibility, we have assumed the highest price: the loss of so many Colombians and Colombians whose paths have been tragically crossed by a nonsense fight“said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
(See: What conditions should Colombia meet to be repeated in the anti -drug fight).
Coca plantations in Colombia.
AFP
For its part, Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, He said this Donald Trump’s government decision is political and is directed against the Colombian president.
“This is not a decrtification to the fight against drug trafficking in Colombia, but against President Petro. It is a political decision of the United States and will have to be resolved through diplomatic channels. Economic support is maintained and the government’s commitment and public force have been real to combat drug trafficking“, said.
In an interview with The newspaper El Tiempo, Benedetti explained some arguments for his position: “It is a very high, very large political point, especially for this time of election, because based on everything that has happened I found a report from the United States Department of State and Justice sent in March of this year, which is called the International Report of the Control Strategy, in which they admit that more tons of cocaine have been seized than ever before and that although there is now a greater number of cultivation of cocaine areas, in Duke, 41% We in one year 10% and in another year 14% This means that the United States had been recognizing the fight against drug trafficking“
(See: President Petro ‘Dracking’ to the US).
“It seems that it was blackmail. It seems as if he said: ‘If you do not do such a thing, then we decided to sanction it.’ And we are not going to play that blackmail. First, because we are going to continue with the fight against drug trafficking as we have been doing it. And second, because it is obvious that this disarticulation is against President Petro and President Petro in August and in September it will be verified again what has to do with the descertification“He added.
Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump
EFE
The Colombian embassy also spoke
From The Colombian Embassy in the United States, It was rejected “Categorically the claim that the country has breached its international obligations, ignoring the substantive advances achieved in the field of interdiction, judicial cooperation and transformation of the territories affected by illicit economies. Colombia rejects the allusions aimed at the political leadership of President Gustavo Petro and those that suggest permissiveness or concessions to drug trafficking in Colombia”
“The United States Government designates Colombia as a country that has manifest its international commitments in the anti -drug fight and, at the same time, invokes reasons of vital national interest to continue bilateral programs without applying adverse measures, or including sanctions that would have negatively affected the public force, to the productive sector and Colombian society“He continued.
(See: Country guilds ask tables and verifiable actions after desactification).
The embassy insisted that Colombia has verifiable facts of its anti -drug work, such as Between 2024 and 2025, the military and police forces reached historical figures of seizures and destruction of laboratories, “impacting the production of cocaine and significantly weakening the finances of criminal organizations”
Also, what Judicial cooperation with the United States was strengthened through a number without a history of extraditions.
“The fight against drug trafficking does not support partial readings: it demands an integral vision that recognizes that it is much more effective to directly face drug traffickers than to concentrate efforts on peasants and coca leaf crops, this being the link that least impacts the finances of the illicit drug business. Colombia has assumed this challenge with determination, high human and institutional cost and deep democratic commitment“He complemented.
(See: The impacts of Colombia’s descertification on anti -drug fight).
And he concluded by saying that Anti -drug success depends on a co -responsibility that includes the reduction of demand for illicit drugs in consumer countries and the fight against arms trafficking that strengthens criminal organizations.
“International cooperation must be understood as a shared effort, oriented to regional and global security. In this sense, Colombia will continue working with the United States and our allies reiterating the need to rethink the discussion about the global drug policy and the application of unilateral evaluation mechanisms between partners“, hill.
Camilo Hernández M.
Portfolio Digital Editor
