Colombia Added to U.S. Drug War 'Decertification'; President Petro Accuses Washington of Political Interference

Colombia was added Monday to a U.S. list of nations judged to be failing to cooperate in the global fight against drug trafficking, a move that prompted sharp criticism from President Gustavo Petro and heightened tensions between Bogotá and Washington as Colombia prepares for presidential elections next year.

The Trump administration said in a Presidential Determination submitted to Congress that Colombia has not met its international obligations to combat drug trafficking and placed responsibility for rising cocaine production on the country's political leadership. The designation, known as decertification, is the first time in about three decades that Colombia has been singled out in this way by the United States. The administration simultaneously issued a waiver intended to prevent immediate cuts to major assistance programs.

President Petro, Colombia's first leftist head of state, took to his X account on Tuesday to denounce the U.S. decision, accusing American officials of seeking to "participate" in Colombian politics and searching for a "puppet president" ahead of next year's elections. "The Colombian people will reply if they want a puppet president…or a free and sovereign nation," he wrote. In a separate post he said he would not allow Colombians who grow coca to be "beaten up."

John McNamara, charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, told Colombian radio station Blu that core areas of bilateral cooperation would continue despite the decertification. "We are going to do everything we can to fight with the Colombian people against the global threat" of drugs, McNamara said, adding that consular services, humanitarian projects and defense cooperation would not be affected.

The U.S. determination singled out Petro's outreach and negotiated agreements with armed groups, describing those efforts as failures that have contributed to the surge in cocaine production. The report praised Colombia's security forces and some local officials for confronting traffickers, but said the country's political leadership had fallen short over the past year.

The designation comes amid a sharp increase in coca cultivation in Colombia. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported that the area dedicated to coca nearly tripled over the past decade, reaching a record 253,000 hectares in 2023. That expansion has coincided with shifts in policy under Petro, who has drawn ire in Washington for rejecting certain U.S. extradition requests and for criticizing U.S. immigration and drug policies.

Analysts and academic voices in Bogotá said the decertification is unlikely to halt operational cooperation against traffickers, given the mutual interests and longstanding security ties between the two countries. "There has been a difficult relationship," said Sandra Borda, an international relations professor at Los Andes University. She predicted heightened diplomatic tensions and said Petro could use the U.S. action to galvanize anti-American sentiment and rally his supporters before the elections.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a prominent voice on foreign policy issues, said Colombia historically has been a strong partner but that the current president has been "erratic" and has not cooperated effectively on tackling drug cartels, according to remarks reported by U.S. officials.

The use of decertification is largely political and symbolic; past practice has seen waivers used to avoid the automatic imposition of broad sanctions, allowing many joint programs to continue. Officials in both Bogotá and Washington emphasized that immediate humanitarian and defense-related activities would remain intact, but acknowledged the decision could complicate longer-term relations and cooperation.

Colombia's next presidential election is scheduled for next year, and officials and analysts said domestic political calculations are likely to shape responses on both sides. Petro's supporters may view the U.S. decision as foreign meddling, while opponents could use the designation to criticize his administration's handling of security and drug policy.

The decertification raises questions about how Washington and Bogotá will manage a relationship that has historically centered on security cooperation, counternarcotics efforts and shared economic ties. For now, both governments stressed continuity in targeted programs even as the diplomatic strain deepens and the debate over strategy to curb the cocaine trade continues.