U.S. Designates Colombia as Failing to Cooperate on Drug War, a First in Nearly Three Decades
for the first time in almost 30 years, the United States has designated Colombia as failing to fully cooperate in efforts to combat drug trafficking. The decision, announced recently, reflects growing tensions between the two countries over Colombia’s approach to cocaine production and eradication under the leadership of President Gustavo Petro.
This shift marks a significant departure from a historically strong partnership, a collaboration once hailed as a rare U.S. foreign policy success in Latin America. That cooperation began to falter a decade ago following the suspension of U.S.-funded aerial eradication of coca fields using glyphosate, a move prompted by a Colombian high court ruling citing potential harm to the environment and farmers.
A 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the nation’s largest rebel group, further steered Colombia away from punitive measures – likened to the U.S. use of agent Orange during the Vietnam War – and towards state building, rural progress, and voluntary crop substitution programs.
However, since the peace accord, cocaine production has dramatically increased. The area dedicated to coca cultivation,the raw material for cocaine,has nearly tripled in the past decade,reaching a record 253,000 hectares in 2023,according to the latest report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. This area is almost three times the size of New York City.
Drug seizures have also risen sharply, with Colombia seizing 654 metric tons so far this year, following a record 884 metric tons in 2023.
under President Petro, however, manual eradication efforts have slowed considerably. Only 5,048 hectares of coca crops have been uprooted this year, considerably less than the 68,000 hectares eradicated during the final year of his conservative predecessor’s term, and falling short of the government’s own goal of 30,000 hectares.
Petro, a former rebel, has also drawn criticism from U.S. officials for denying American extradition requests and for publicly criticizing the Trump governance’s immigration policies and anti-drug efforts in neighboring Venezuela.
“Under my administration, Colombia does not collaborate in assassinations,” Petro stated on September 5th, responding to a U.S. military strike on a Venezuelan vessel in the Caribbean suspected of carrying cocaine bound for the U.S.
In a presidential memo submitted to congress, former President trump directly attributed the failure to Colombia’s political leadership. “I will consider changing this designation if Colombia’s government takes more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking, as well as hold those producing, trafficking, and benefiting from the production of cocaine responsible, including through improved cooperation with the United States to bring the leaders of Colombian criminal organizations to justice.”
U.S. law requires the president to annually identify countries that have not met their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements. This recent designation signals a significant strain in the relationship between the U.S. and Colombia as they navigate the complex challenges of drug trafficking and its impact on both nations.
