U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats spark clash between Trump and Colombian president : NPR

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Colombia was once the United States’ main ally in Latin America and a key partner in the war on drugs. But since President Trump was sworn in for his second term, relations with Colombia have deteriorated.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Things are so bad that Trump is now openly calling the Colombian president an “illegal drug leader.” He also threatens to intervene directly in Colombia to stop the flow of cocaine. In response, Colombia announced on Monday that it would withdraw its ambassador in Washington.

MARTIN: For more on the dispute, we speak to journalist John Otis in Bogota. Hello, John.

JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: Hello, Michel.

MARTIN: What do we know about why Trump is doing this?

OTIS: Well, it has a lot to do with Trump’s policy of ordering deadly military strikes against alleged drug boats coming from Venezuela. It is unclear whether the strikes are legal and they have killed more than two dozen people. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said one such attack last month destroyed the boat of a stranded Colombian fisherman who had no links to drug trafficking. He then accused the Trump administration of murder. This made Trump angry. Who declared on social networks on Sunday that Petro was, I quote, “an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the mass production of drugs.” Trump also threatened to cut off U.S. aid and increase tariffs on Colombia.

MARTIN: Has Trump provided evidence that Petro is linked to drug trafficking?

OTIS: No, he didn’t. And Petro has strongly denied these accusations. In fact, Petro’s political rise was partly due to his time in the Colombian Senate, where he was a vocal critic of drug trafficking groups. The fact remains that Colombia is the world’s largest supplier of cocaine, but we must also remember that American drug users help fuel the cocaine trade here. And besides, it’s actually synthetic opioids like fentanyl that cause most overdose deaths in the United States, and Colombia is not a major exporter of fentanyl.

MARTIN: But you reported that Petro and Trump had been feuding for months. So I guess it goes beyond the drug issue.

OTIS: Yes, it is. Petro is left-wing. He is the first left-wing president of Colombia. He disagrees with Trump on almost everything. And unlike other world leaders, Petro is not afraid to say it. For example, Petro initially rejected U.S. military flights of deported Colombian migrants. At a street rally last month in New York, Petro urged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Trump. This prompted the State Department to cancel Petro’s U.S. visa. But Petro doesn’t seem to care about the consequences. Over the weekend, he expressed support for No Kings rallies in the United States, and he also had harsher words for Trump on Monday in this interview with Univision TV.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT GUSTAVO PETRO: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: Now Petro is saying here that Trump is not the king of Colombia. “Here, we don’t accept kings, period.”

MARTIN: So if Trump follows through on his threats to cut aid, what impact will that have on Colombia?

OTIS: Well, aid to Colombia has declined significantly in recent years, but it still receives about $230 million a year in U.S. aid. But much of that money actually goes to helping Colombians fight drug cartels. So, you know, closing down USAID could end up backfiring. This could really hurt efforts to fight drug cartels here in Colombia.

MARTIN: It’s John Otis. He reports from Bogota, the capital of Colombia. John, thank you.

OTIS: Thank you very much.

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