Colombian President Gustavo Petro says that U.S. President Donald Trump falsely accuses him of being linked to drug trafficking because the Colombian Army will not participate in an invasion of Venezuela during his term, calling it a senseless act to attack a sister nation.
In an interview with journalist Daniel Coronell, the president stated: “It infuriates you, Mr. Trump, that I don’t support the Americans and the Colombian army in invading Venezuela. No, sir. What stupid Colombian would think of helping to invade where his cousins, his children, his four million Colombian people are, so they can be killed like in Gaza.”
He pointed out that “the same missiles that fall in Gaza fall in the Caribbean Sea near us,” and that a president must speak “with the dignity of humanity, not just of his people.”
The president also criticized US foreign policy, comparing current actions to historical violations of international law: “Just as they have violated all international treaties on human rights, constructed by such wisdom that the United States is the main actor.”
On the other hand, the Colombian president demanded the elimination of the tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on Colombian exports, arguing that they violate the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in force between the two countries since 2012. “He shouldn’t have imposed any tariffs, because there was an International Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Colombia that he violated.”
In a conversation with Coronell, he announced a meeting with the US chargé d’affaires to address these tensions and a call for consultations with the Colombian ambassador in Washington, Daniel García-Peña.
“I’m not going to concede; I’m going to demand. Remove the eight percent tariff on exports. If we want to end cocaine, farmers must have access to fertile land,” he declared, proposing crop substitution with support from US companies.
Petro contrasted his experience with two US administrations: “I have spoken directly with former President Biden and, through envoys, with Trump. The attitudes have been different—decent with Biden, rude and ignorant with Trump.”
The President stated that the FTA should have been negotiated with Colombian farmers. Had that been the case, he asserted, the result would have been to end drug trafficking, not stimulate it.
“The FTA was signed, millions of hectares planted with potatoes, corn, among other crops, were ruined, and cocaine production increased,” the president emphasized.
Regarding anti-drug policy, he stated, “What they have built from the anti-drug policy is a policy of domination over Colombia and Latin America. One million Latin Americans are killed, and demand for cocaine hasn’t decreased one gram in the United States, and demand is also increasing in Europe.”
“It’s not true that we are flooded with cocaine, it’s not true that we are flooding the world with cocaine. The world is being filled, first in the United States, with fentanyl, which is 30 times worse, and no policy to mitigate the damage is being taken into account,” Petro emphasized.
IMAGE CREDIT: Gustavo Petro, in an interview with Daniel Coronell, demands that the US withdraw tariffs affecting Colombian agribusiness. Photo: EFE
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
