The Minister of Defense of Colombia, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, affirmed this Sunday that criminals will benefit from the announcement by US President Donald Trump that he will cut off financial aid to Colombia for its alleged inaction in the fight against drug trafficking.
“When international relations are fractured, when international cooperation is fractured, it gives space for criminals to flourish.“said the minister in statements to the public television channel RTVC. The head of Defense stated that “there is no country in the world“fight drug trafficking”with total firmness and at a very high cost in terms of lives like Colombia“, and That is why he considered what Trump made today against Petro as “a disrespectful statement.”
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In a message on the Truth Social network, Trump referred to Petro as “a drug trafficking leader who encourages the mass production of drugs.”both in large and small fields, throughout Colombia” and said that “it does nothing” against drugs “despite large-scale US payments and subsidies.“.
“Starting today, these payments, or any other form of payment or subsidy, will no longer be made to Colombia. The purpose of this drug production is the massive sale of products to the United States, causing death, destruction and havoc.“added the American president.
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Colombia’s effort against drugs The Colombian Minister of Defense considered, however, that Petro is “a president who has the absolute conviction of neutralizing drug trafficking, of eradicating it,” a purpose for which he has the support of the Military and Police Forces, of whom he said they have an “iron commitment” in which even “Men and women who have fought this cancer have lost their lives so that it does not reach consumers.“.
Trump’s message does not make clear what aid Washington will cut to Colombia. But it is estimated that anti-drug assistance to the country amounts to about 400 million dollars annually. Petro responded today that “Trump is deceived by (sic) his lodges and advisors” when he considers him “a leader of drug trafficking“, because throughout his career, he said, he has done nothing but denounce the links of politicians with drug traffickers.
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“I don’t do business (sic), like you, I am a socialist, I believe in help and the common good and in the common goods of humanity, the greatest of all: life, endangered by its oil. If I am not a businessman, much less a drug trafficker, there is no greed in my heart“Petro responded today in another message on X addressed to Trump.
The 2024 annual report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) noted that Coca crops in Colombia reached a record of 253,000 hectares in 2023, and cocaine production soared by 53%, reaching 2,600 tons..
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However, Petro has been repeating for weeks that his Government has “reduced the growth rate of coca leaf crops to almost zero“, in response to the decision of the Trump administration, on September 15, to remove Colombia from the list of countries that give results in the fight against drugs.
The Colombian president, who today accused “Mr. Trump” of being “rude and ignorant towards Colombia,” has toughened his criticism of the White House tenant since, last August, he ordered a military deployment in the Caribbean, near the waters of Venezuela, supposedly to combat drug trafficking.
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This Saturday, Petro asked the Prosecutor’s Office to “act immediately” before the possibility that an alleged drug boat attacked on September 16 by the US in the Caribbean Sea was Colombianand accused that country of “murder” for the death of a fisherman who was doing his job, whom he identified as “Alejandro Carranza, who has not returned home” in the city of Santa Marta.
EFE
