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U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats spark clash between Trump and Colombian president

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Colombia used to be the top U.S. ally in Latin America and a key partner in the war on drugs. But since President Trump was sworn in for his second term, relations with Colombia have deteriorated.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Things are so bad that Trump is now openly calling Colombia's president a, quote, "illegal drug leader." He's also threatening to directly intervene in Colombia to stop the flow of cocaine. In response, Colombia announced Monday that it will withdraw its ambassador to Washington.

MARTIN: For more on the dispute, we go to reporter John Otis in Bogota. Good morning, John.

JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.

MARTIN: What do we know about why Trump is doing this?

OTIS: Well, a lot of this has to do with Trump's policy of ordering lethal military strikes on alleged drug boats coming out of Venezuela. It's unclear whether these strikes are legal, and they've killed more than two dozen people. Colombian President Gustavo Petro says that one of these attacks last month destroyed the boat of a stranded Colombian fisherman who had no ties to drug smuggling. He then accused the Trump administration of murder. That angered Trump. Who on Sunday said on social media that Petro was, quote, "an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs." Trump also threatened to cut off U.S. aid and to raise tariffs on Colombia.

MARTIN: Has Trump provided any evidence that Petro is tied to drug trafficking?

OTIS: No, he hasn't. And Petro has strongly denied these accusations. In fact, Petro's political rise was partly due to his time in the Colombian Senate, where he was a vocal critic of drug trafficking groups. Now, the fact remains that Colombia is the world's number one supplier of cocaine, but we should also remember that U.S. drug users are helping to fuel the cocaine trade here. And besides, it's actually synthetic opioids like fentanyl that are causing most of the overdose deaths in the U.S., and Colombia is not a major exporter of fentanyl.

MARTIN: But you have been reporting that Petro and Trump have been feuding for months. So I take it this goes beyond the drug issue.

OTIS: Yes, it does. Petro is a leftist. He's Colombia's first-ever left-wing president. He disagrees with Trump on almost everything. And unlike other world leaders, Petro is not afraid to say so. For example, Petro initially rejected U.S. military flights of deported Colombian migrants. At a street rally last month in New York, Petro urged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Trump. That prompted the State Department to cancel Petro's U.S. visa. But Petro doesn't seem to care about the consequences. Over the weekend, he expressed support for the No Kings rallies in the U.S., and he also had more harsh words for Trump Monday in this interview with Univision TV.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT GUSTAVO PETRO: (Non-English language spoken).

OTIS: Now, Petro is saying here that Trump is not the king of Colombia. "Here, we do not accept kings, period."

MARTIN: So if Trump does make good on his threats to cut off aid, how would that affect Colombia?

OTIS: Well, aid to Colombia has drastically fallen in recent years, but it still receives about $230 million per year in US Aid. But a lot of that money actually goes towards helping Colombians fight the drug cartels. So, you know, shutting down USAID could end up backfiring. It could really end up hurting the effort to fight against the drug cartels here in Colombia.

MARTIN: That is John Otis. He's reporting from Bogota, the capital of Colombia. John, thank you.

OTIS: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

John Otis
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Michel Martin
Michel Martin is the weekend host of All Things Considered, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig in to the week's news. Outside the studio, she has also hosted "Michel Martin: Going There," an ambitious live event series in collaboration with Member Stations.