President Trump along with Colombia's president have escalated the volume of their exchange, heightening tensions bilaterally following US forces attacked Venezuela to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from office.
"He runs cocaine mills and processing labs and his time is running out," Trump remarked.
Growing Threats coupled with Claims
Talking to the press on Sunday, the American leader threatened similar military action against Colombia, asserting the country is also "very ill" and led by a sick man involved in producing cocaine and trafficking it to the US."
While Colombia remains the globe's biggest producer of cocaine, authorities have found no indication implicating Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is personally tied to the trade.
A Frayed Partnership
This nation has long been a key ally of the United States in the campaign combating drug cartels and received wide political approval in the US capital, yet ties have deteriorated dramatically after Trump came to office.
The nation's drug trade is mainly overseen by illegal armed groups like one major cartel, the ELN guerrilla group and dissident factions of the former Farc guerrillas, the majority of whose members disbanded after a historic peace agreement.
Colombia's Strong Answer
In response to a query if a military operation similar to Venezuela was on the cards against his country, Trump said: "It sounds good to me personally."
President Petro, once a member of a left-wing insurgent group who disarmed in the 1990s, rejected the accusations. "I am neither illegitimate nor am I a drug trafficker," he affirmed.
"Trump speaks uninformed. Cease defaming me," he wrote in a post.
"If they [the US] bomb peasants, they will turn into thousands of guerrillas in the mountains. And should they arrest the president, which many of Colombians holds in high esteem, they will unleash the ‘jaguar’ of the nation," the president cautioned.
From Insurgent to Statesman
The president dedicated a period in his early life as a member with the radical M-19 guerrilla group although reports indicate that he never participated in combat. Following his disarmament, he took part in writing the constitutional rewrite in 1991 and eventually served as a respected lawmaker. He was mayor of Bogotá before being elected president.
"I pledged to abstain from using a gun ... but for Colombia I would take up arms again," he vowed.
Increased Security and Cross-Political Condemnation
Colombia's defense chief announced that the national leader's security detail was strengthened.
Many among Colombia’s conservative opposition have allied themselves with the US president, but voices from all sides of the ideological divide have denounced the notion of a US attack targeting Colombia.
Political and Financial Pressure
The US withdrew the president's entry visa following he called on American soldiers to refuse unlawful commands. Months later, it placed economic restrictions targeting Petro, his wife and a number of close collaborators.
At the same time while America bolstered its troop levels in the region and targeting vessels thought to carry drugs to pressure Venezuela’s Maduro, US forces have also conducted operations on boats off the Pacific coast off the Colombian coast.
