The US President along with Colombia's president have escalated the tone in their verbal conflict, further raising strains between the two countries after American military units attacked Venezuela with the aim of deposing President Nicolás Maduro from office.
"He operates narcotics facilities and cocaine factories and is not going to be doing it very long," Trump added.
Rising Threats coupled with Claims
Talking to reporters over the weekend, Trump suggested analogous armed intervention against Colombia, claiming the nation is also "very ill" and led by a sick man involved in producing cocaine and distributing it to the US."
While Colombia is the world’s largest cocaine-producing country, there is no evidence implicating Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is in any way connected to the trade.
A Strained Partnership
The country has long been a key ally of the US in the fight against narcotics trade and enjoyed wide political approval in the US capital, yet ties have soured markedly after Trump assumed the presidency.
Colombia’s narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups like the Clan del Golfo, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and breakaway groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a large contingent of whom disbanded following a 2016 peace deal.
Petro's Defiant Response
When asked whether military intervention like that in Venezuela was a possibility regarding Colombia, Trump said: "It sounds good to me personally."
Petro, an ex-guerrilla fighter who left armed struggle in the last century, categorically refuted these allegations. "I am no illegitimate and certainly not involved in narcotics," he declared.
"The US president speaks uninformed. End the false accusations," he posted in a message.
"If US bombs target peasants, they will become a multitude of fighters across the countryside. If they capture me, whom many of Colombians loves and respects, they will release the ‘jaguar’ of the people," Petro warned.
From Fighter to Statesman
Petro spent part of his youth as a member of the leftist M-19 insurgent movement but is not believed to have ever participated in combat. Upon leaving the group, he participated in writing the constitutional rewrite in 1991 and eventually served as a respected lawmaker. He held the office of mayor of the Colombian capital before being elected president.
"I made a vow not to touch arms again ... but in defense of my country I would take up the fight," he said.
Increased Security along with Widespread Condemnation
Colombia's defense chief announced 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 political spectrum have condemned the possibility of American military action against their nation.
Political and Economic Pressure
Washington cancelled his travel authorization following he called on American soldiers to refuse orders that violate law. In October, it placed asset freezes targeting Petro, his spouse and a number of key allies.
At the same time while America bolstered its military presence in the region and targeting suspected drug boats to pressure Venezuela’s Maduro, US forces also carried out strikes on maritime targets in Pacific waters near Colombia.
