(Image: President’s Office)
Harsh criticism ensued in Congress in response to the United States’ decision to decertify Colombia as a reliable partner in the US-led war on drugs.
The US decision exacerbated the pre-existing divide between coalition parties and the opposition to President Gustavo Petro.
Coalition senator and presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda decried the double standards applied by the US, the world’s largest cocaine consumer.
This is a political decision that reflects, once again, the double standards of those in power when faced with a global problem. While drug use continues to grow, drug trafficking profits flow into their financial systems, and transnational crime networks grow stronger, Colombia continues to pay the highest price: thousands of lives lost, billions in public resources squandered, and profound institutional degradation.
And yet, we are blamed for a failure for which the party most responsible is precisely the one who designed and imposed this strategy.
Ivan Cepeda
Eleven political parties, mainly belonging to the opposition, blamed Petro for the deteriorated relations with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
The 11 parties that signed this statement express our firm rejection of President Gustavo Petro’s statements against the United States government, represented by President Donald Trump, following Colombia’s recent decertification in the fight against drug trafficking. The executive branch’s statements do not reflect the country’s position and constitute an insult to a nation that has supported Colombia in this effort for decades.
Opposition and indepedent parties
The White House on Monday decertified Colombia as a cooperative partner in the war on drugs, but failed to impose the sanctions that normally come with such a decision.
The administrations of Trump and Petro have had major differences regarding foreign policy matters, but have maintained a relatively harmonious cooperation when it comes to drug trafficking.
The United States has seen drug deaths more than double over the past decade, mainly fueled by the consumption of opiates and the drug fentanyl in particular.
In Colombia, cocaine production has also risen exponentially since 2013, despite efforts to come up with a strategy that is not as much of a proven failure as the war on drugs.
