With the US military presence growing across the Caribbean and the Pacific, the President of Colombia suggested that the Trump administration’s campaign against Venezuela is fundamentally about securing access to the South American nation’s petroleum resources, rather than genuinely combating narcotics trafficking.
“Petroleum is the central issue,” Gustavo Petro asserted to CNN during an exclusive conversation, pointing out that Venezuela possesses what are regarded as the globe’s most extensive crude oil reserves.
“Therefore, this is a negotiation over oil. That aligns with what I perceive as Donald Trump’s rationale. He isn’t focused on the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the drug trade,” he elaborated, noting that Venezuela isn’t recognized as a primary drug producer and handles only a small fraction of the global narcotics flow.
Petro has found himself in opposition to Trump since the latter returned to the presidency. Over the preceding year, the Colombian leader has strongly condemned the Trump administration’s policies regarding migration, its alignment with Israel, and its military posturing throughout Latin America.
On Tuesday, he accused the US of attempting to impose its will upon its neighbors, drawing parallels to imperialistic behavior. “The United States should not be viewed as an empire, but merely as one nation among others,” the president stated.
CNN has sought responses from both the White House and the US Department of State.
When asked if he had a message for the American public, Petro responded, “My message is the same one imparted to all personnel within the United States special forces: your directive, as stipulated in your oaths, is to oppose subjugation. I vocalized that very sentiment on US streets, and it came at a cost to me,” Petro recounted.
He seemed to be referencing the US State Department’s action to invalidate his visa following the UN General Assembly in September, an occurrence that followed his public appeal for American service members to defy Trump and refrain from “aiming their weapons at humanity.”
This was one of several measures enacted by the Trump administration against the Colombian head of state in recent months.
Colombians affected by the Trump-Petro discord
In October, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Petro, claiming he played “a role in the worldwide illicit drug trade”—an assertion the Colombian leader has refuted.
These penalties were announced days after Trump declared he would cease all US financial aid and allocations to Colombia, alleging that Petro “fails entirely to halt” drug manufacturing within his country.
Petro defended his administration’s commitment to combating narcotics, telling CNN that his government had confiscated more cocaine than any prior administration in history. “To such an extent that in recent times, I have managed to ensure that the increase in cultivation, which is leveling off, is heavily outweighed by the volume of seizures,” he explained.
When questioned about Trump’s failure to acknowledge this, Petro suggested: “It stems from arrogance. Because he perceives me as a subversive agitator, a terrorist, and similar labels, simply due to my past affiliation with M-19,” a Colombian guerrilla organization active during the 1970s and 1980s.
Petro also shared with CNN his belief that the US is drawing comparisons between him and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
His statement arrives one day after the US designated the Cartel de los Soles, an alleged narcotics trafficking organization purportedly led by Maduro, as a foreign terrorist entity. Venezuela has contested these claims, and analysts suggest the term describes allegedly corrupt government officials more than a structured criminal syndicate.
While Petro conceded that Maduro faces a democratic deficit, he indicated he isn’t entirely convinced regarding the Venezuelan president’s alleged ties to drug trafficking.
“Maduro’s challenge is one of democracy… the absence of democratic norms,” Petro told CNN, adding that “no Colombian investigation… has established a link between Colombian drug trafficking and Maduro.”
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Venezuela is not a cocaine producer. Of the 3,700 tons of coca produced globally, over 2,500 tons originate in Colombia, whereas Venezuela does not appear on production charts, according to the UNODC, which noted: “The bulk of Colombian cocaine is being transported north along the Pacific coastline.”
Investigators from the US Drug Enforcement Agency reached parallel conclusions, stating in their annual report last March that 84% of cocaine confiscated in the US comes from Colombia.
Over the weekend, the Colombian news program Noticias Caracol reported supposed connections between Colombian officials and splinter groups of the now-disbanded FARC rebels. The report alleged that high-ranking military and intelligence personnel shared confidential data with these armed factions and provided guidance on clandestinely acquiring weaponry and avoiding military detection.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro addresses a rally organized by the government, combining civilians and the military, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, November 25. Ariana Cubillos/AP
Petro has refuted these accusations but admitted to CNN on Tuesday that connections between certain officials and drug traffickers have existed for years, predating his assumption of office.
A representative for the US State Department confirmed their awareness of the recent reports and urged Petro and other Colombian bodies to “investigate these claims thoroughly and undertake all requisite actions.”
Colombia has historically stood as Washington’s foremost security and defense partner in South America. In 2022, the Biden administration granted the Andean nation the status of a “major non-NATO ally.”
Despite the current strain at the highest levels, US-Colombian relations remain stable.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly stressed that the administration’s issues are directed specifically at Petro, not the governmental structures within Colombia.
“Our rapport with the citizenry of Colombia, its economic sector, the majority of political figures in Colombia, and its institutions—especially its defense establishments—are robust and enduring, and they will remain so long after this individual ceases to be president there,” Rubio had previously stated.
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