U.S. Defense Secretary Confirms Sinking of Vessel Belonging to Colombian Rebel Group
President Donald Trump of the United States has announced that he will halt U.S. funding to support Colombia in its fight against drug trafficking, despite Colombia being the world's largest producer of cocaine.
On October 19 (local time), President Trump criticized Colombian President Gustavo Petro on the social networking service Truth Social, stating, "President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, as the head of illegal drugs, is actively encouraging both large-scale and small-scale drug production across Colombia." He continued, "Drugs have become the biggest industry in Colombia, and despite receiving massive support and subsidies from the United States, President Petro has taken no action to stop this. In the long run, this amounts to defrauding the United States."
He added, "The purpose of (Colombian) drug production is to sell vast quantities of drugs to the United States, causing death, destruction, and chaos. Starting today, no more support funds or any form of subsidies will be provided to Colombia." The United States has previously provided financial assistance to Colombia for purposes such as economic development and combating drug trafficking, but Trump has now declared that this will be suspended.
Previously, last month, Colombian daily newspapers El Tiempo and El Espectador reported on developments between the U.S. and Colombian governments, stating that the budget sourced from the U.S. government for Colombia's efforts to block cocaine production and distribution and suppress drug trafficking cartels amounted to 500 million dollars.
The U.S. government has long considered Colombia a partner in anti-drug cooperation, providing the necessary related funds locally. However, after the launch of Colombia's first leftist government in August 2022, President Petro insisted on focusing more on reducing drug demand in developed countries rather than conducting aggressive military and police crackdowns on coca farmers. The international community has pointed out that this approach in Colombia, one of the world's major cocaine producers along with Peru, has not yielded significant results.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the area of coca leaf (the raw material for cocaine) cultivation in Colombia increased by 10% in 2023 compared to the previous year. The estimated maximum production, assuming all leaves are harvested, rose by 53% to 2,664 tons.
On the same day, President Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "President Trump is being deceived by his aides and advisors, and the problem lies not in the United States but with President Trump himself." He added, "I am not a drug leader, but the greatest enemy of 21st-century Colombian drug traffickers."
As the conflict between the two leaders deepens, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on October 17 that the U.S. military had sunk a vessel belonging to the Colombian rebel group National Liberation Army (ELN). Secretary Hegseth stated on X that, "Under President Trump's orders, the Department of Defense carried out a lethal physical attack on a vessel affiliated with the ELN." He explained, "Our intelligence agencies confirmed that this vessel was involved in illegal drug smuggling, was traveling along known drug trafficking routes, and was carrying a significant quantity of drugs." Secretary Hegseth also reported that the attack, conducted in international waters, eliminated three drug terrorists on board, emphasizing, "The U.S. military will treat these organizations as terrorists and will pursue and eliminate them just as we do with Al-Qaeda."
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