Colombian President Says 'I Would Return to Arms Again' if United States Intervenes Militarily.
The US President along with his Colombian counterpart have escalated the rhetoric in their verbal conflict, further raising strains between the two countries following US forces attacked Venezuela with the aim of deposing the leader of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro from his position.
"He operates drug factories and production sites and that won't last much longer," Trump remarked.
Growing Threats coupled with Claims
Addressing the press on Sunday, the US president hinted at similar military action against Bogotá, asserting the country is “very sick too” and governed by a problematic figure involved in producing cocaine and trafficking it to the United States."
While Colombia is the leading source of the narcotic, no proof exists that President Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is directly involved in the business.
A Frayed Partnership
Colombia was historically a key ally of the United States in the fight against drug trafficking and enjoyed wide political approval in the US capital, yet ties have soured significantly following Trump came to office.
Colombia’s narcotics trade is largely controlled by criminal organizations like the Golf Clan, the ELN guerrilla group and breakaway groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), most of its former fighters demobilised following a 2016 peace deal.
The President's Defiant Answer
When asked whether a military operation like that in Venezuela was on the cards for Colombia, Trump said: "I like the sound of that to me personally."
President Petro, once a member of a left-wing insurgent group who demobilised in the 1990s, categorically refuted these allegations. "I am not an illegitimate leader and I am not a drug trafficker," he declared.
"He comments uninformed. Cease defaming me," he expressed in a post.
"If they [the US] bomb rural communities, they will turn into thousands of guerrillas in the mountains. And should they arrest the president, whom many of the population admires and supports, they will release the ‘jaguar’ of the nation," Petro warned.
From Fighter to President
He passed part of his youth belonging with the radical M-19 guerrilla group but is not believed he did not participated in combat. Upon leaving the group, he took part in creating the nation's constitution in the early 90s subsequently becoming a respected lawmaker. He served as mayor of the Colombian capital before winning president.
"I made a vow not to touch a gun ... but for Colombia I will take up weapons once more," he vowed.
Heightened Measures and Cross-Political Rejection
Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that Petro's personal security had been reinforced.
Many among Colombia’s conservative opposition have allied themselves with Trump's stance, yet figures spanning the ideological divide have denounced the possibility of a US attack on Colombia.
Political and Economic Pressure
Washington cancelled the president's entry visa subsequent to he urged US troops to ignore unlawful commands. In October, it placed economic restrictions against the president, his spouse and various associates.
Concurrently the US was building up its troop levels near Venezuela and targeting alleged narcotics traffickers against Venezuela’s Maduro, American military assets executed attacks on maritime targets in the eastern Pacific region adjacent to Colombia.