Tensions between Washington and Bogotá escalated sharply after Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would "take up arms again" if the United States launches a military intervention similar to its recent operation in Venezuela.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump accused Colombia of being "run by a sick man" involved in cocaine production and said a United States military operation "sounds good to me." The remarks marked a dramatic turn in relations with a country that has long been one of Washington's closest partners in the fight against drug trafficking.
Petro, a former M-19 guerrilla who later became a constitutional reformer and president, rejected the accusations as slander. "I am not illegitimate and I am not a narco," he wrote on X, warning that any attack or attempt to detain Colombia's elected leader would trigger mass resistance. "For the homeland, I will take up arms again," he said.
While Colombia remains the world's largest cocaine producer, the trade is controlled by illegal armed groups rather than the state. Political leaders across Colombia's ideological spectrum have condemned Trump's threats, even as the government reinforced Petro's security.