The US President and President Gustavo Petro have escalated the rhetoric of their exchange, heightening strains bilaterally following US forces struck Venezuela in an operation to oust President Nicolás Maduro from his position.
"He operates cocaine mills and production sites and his time is running out," the US president stated.
Growing Rhetoric coupled with Accusations
Speaking to journalists over the weekend, Trump suggested analogous use of force against Bogotá, asserting the nation faces serious problems and led by a sick man who likes making narcotics and distributing it to the US."
Although Colombia remains the world’s largest producer of cocaine, authorities have found no indication implicating Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is directly involved in the business.
A Frayed Alliance
Colombia for decades served as a close partner of the US in the struggle combating drug cartels and benefited from wide political approval in Washington, yet ties have soured markedly following Trump assumed the presidency.
The nation's narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups like one major cartel, the ELN guerrilla group and renegade units of the former Farc guerrillas, the majority of whose members disbanded after a 2016 peace deal.
Petro's Defiant Rebuttal
In response to a query if military intervention similar to Venezuela was a possibility against his country, Trump said: "That seems like a good idea to me."
President Petro, a former leftist guerrilla who demobilised in the last century, firmly denied the accusations. "I am neither illegitimate nor am I a drug trafficker," he affirmed.
"The US president speaks uninformed. End the false accusations," he wrote online.
"If they [the US] bomb civilians, they will transform into a multitude of fighters in the mountains. If they capture me, whom many of the population holds in high esteem, they will unleash the ‘jaguar’ of the people," the president cautioned.
From Guerrilla to President
The president dedicated a period in his early life belonging of the leftist M-19 insurgent movement though it is believed that he never participated in combat. Upon leaving the group, he took part in writing the constitutional rewrite in the early 90s and later became a prominent senator. He served as mayor of Bogotá before winning the presidency.
"I pledged to abstain from using a gun ... but for Colombia I shall resume arms again," he vowed.
Heightened Measures along with Broad Rejection
The Colombian defence minister stated that the national leader's personal security had been reinforced.
Several members of Colombia’s right wing opposition have sided with the US president, yet figures from across the ideological divide have rejected the possibility of a US attack targeting Colombia.
Political and Financial Pressure
American authorities revoked the president's entry visa after he encouraged US military personnel to disobey orders that violate law. In October, the US enacted financial sanctions on Petro, his spouse and several close collaborators.
Simultaneously as the US increased its forces in the region and striking vessels thought to carry drugs to put pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro, US forces executed strikes against vessels off the Pacific coast adjacent to Colombia.
