Berliner Boersenzeitung - Colombia warns Trump against drug blacklisting

EUR -
AED 4.006889
AFN 76.941747
ALL 99.18358
AMD 426.163044
ANG 1.964079
AOA 998.259563
ARS 1164.778231
AUD 1.712143
AWG 1.966517
AZN 1.871299
BAM 1.955163
BBD 2.200392
BDT 132.416838
BGN 1.955384
BHD 0.411096
BIF 3229.414159
BMD 1.090994
BND 1.451167
BOB 7.53058
BRL 6.202738
BSD 1.0898
BTN 94.62759
BWP 14.817559
BYN 3.566458
BYR 21383.489982
BZD 2.189096
CAD 1.560809
CDF 3136.609039
CHF 0.961439
CLF 0.02617
CLP 1004.246603
CNY 7.89138
CNH 7.89551
COP 4443.892886
CRC 543.60039
CUC 1.090994
CUP 28.911351
CVE 110.229575
CZK 25.064498
DJF 194.068738
DKK 7.460471
DOP 68.584816
DZD 145.664132
EGP 55.104927
ERN 16.364916
ETB 142.927417
FJD 2.516812
FKP 0.843128
GBP 0.840917
GEL 3.038391
GGP 0.843128
GHS 16.847821
GIP 0.843128
GMD 77.996549
GNF 9471.491632
GTQ 8.405385
GYD 228.000234
HKD 8.47724
HNL 27.966287
HRK 7.534625
HTG 145.192767
HUF 400.130704
IDR 17854.290381
ILS 3.976953
IMP 0.843128
INR 94.861147
IQD 1429.608347
IRR 45824.618331
ISK 146.186361
JEP 0.843128
JMD 170.752859
JOD 0.773563
JPY 163.288835
KES 141.505178
KGS 95.407469
KHR 4364.842526
KMF 493.311542
KPW 981.894948
KRW 1583.620187
KWD 0.336115
KYD 0.894621
KZT 547.542517
LAK 23645.990654
LBP 98593.638506
LKR 322.207884
LRD 217.289199
LSL 19.82076
LTL 3.221423
LVL 0.659931
LYD 5.250738
MAD 10.568749
MDL 19.386989
MGA 5100.105846
MKD 61.499365
MMK 2291.070813
MNT 3788.458267
MOP 8.734636
MRU 43.55918
MUR 49.049632
MVR 16.866773
MWK 1891.051668
MXN 21.796864
MYR 4.850672
MZN 69.43024
NAD 19.82076
NGN 1688.557054
NIO 39.957024
NOK 11.514027
NPR 151.848981
NZD 1.876173
OMR 0.420026
PAB 1.090994
PEN 3.991194
PGK 4.431305
PHP 62.470845
PKR 305.577042
PLN 4.177227
PYG 8717.412633
QAR 3.971051
RON 4.988726
RSD 117.526502
RUB 93.279738
RWF 1532.604306
SAR 4.091486
SBD 9.273222
SCR 16.280047
SDG 653.464851
SEK 11.030144
SGD 1.455055
SHP 0.85735
SLE 24.902004
SLL 22877.607976
SOS 623.819389
SRD 39.624888
STD 22581.381099
SVC 9.545924
SYP 14185.0443
SZL 19.82076
THB 36.590041
TJS 11.932636
TMT 3.818675
TND 3.358057
TOP 2.622552
TRY 39.989445
TTD 7.428386
TWD 35.972657
TZS 2869.263587
UAH 45.410799
UGX 3999.119443
USD 1.090994
UYU 46.463649
UZS 14115.452782
VES 72.306197
VND 27825.81075
VUV 134.145869
WST 3.074963
XAF 657.748722
XAG 0.032225
XAU 0.000362
XCD 2.945685
XDR 0.818764
XOF 657.748722
XPF 119.331742
YER 271.095014
ZAR 19.759657
ZMK 9820.261527
ZMW 31.347793
ZWL 351.299747
  • CMSD

    0.1900

    23.54

    +0.81%

  • JRI

    0.1700

    13

    +1.31%

  • SCS

    0.0200

    11.01

    +0.18%

  • BCC

    0.6500

    100

    +0.65%

  • BCE

    0.2300

    23.7

    +0.97%

  • RIO

    0.4300

    63.47

    +0.68%

  • NGG

    0.9300

    64.14

    +1.45%

  • RBGPF

    66.7800

    66.78

    +100%

  • AZN

    -0.2300

    77.37

    -0.3%

  • CMSC

    0.1100

    23.33

    +0.47%

  • GSK

    0.7600

    40.25

    +1.89%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    10.44

    -0.1%

  • RELX

    0.6700

    49.6

    +1.35%

  • BTI

    0.4800

    41.84

    +1.15%

  • VOD

    0.3100

    9.86

    +3.14%

  • BP

    0.3700

    33.76

    +1.1%

Colombia warns Trump against drug blacklisting
Colombia warns Trump against drug blacklisting / Photo: Raul ARBOLEDA - AFP

Colombia warns Trump against drug blacklisting

Colombia's defense minister on Sunday warned Donald Trump's administration against blacklisting his country for failing to curb drug exports, saying the decision would bring yet more cocaine to the United States.

Text size:

Washington is currently weighing whether to "decertify" Colombia as a partner in the battle against drugs, a move that could restrict millions in US military aid and be a hammer blow to Colombia's reputation.

In an interview with AFP, recently appointed defense minister Pedro Sanchez said decertification would mean "we simply lose the ability to contain the threat."

"Not being able to contain it would go against the interests of the United States. Because more cocaine would arrive and the United States would not be stronger, more prosperous, or safer."

"Fracturing relations and cooperation between our states is an opportunity for drug trafficking," Sanchez insisted.

Colombia has launched a diplomatic offensive to avoid blacklisting ahead of a September US review.

But many officials are privately pessimistic that blacklisting can be avoided, putting at risk nearly half a billion dollars in annual US funding.

Since President Gustavo Petro came to power in 2022, the area under coca cultivation has increased by about 70 percent, according to Colombian government and UN estimates.

Trump has taken a hardline stance against drugs entering the United States from Mexico and Canada, hitting both countries with tariffs as apparent punishment.

And there is no love lost between Trump and Colombia's similarly pugilistic president Petro.

The pair recently got into a spat on social media over migrant deportations, prompting Trump to threaten sanctions on Colombia.

- Plan Colombia -

The United States has poured billions of dollars into Colombia's security forces over decades, helping to beat back insurgent groups and cartels that produce 90-plus percent of cocaine in the United States.

But Petro's signature policy of "total peace" has led to fewer military operations against drug-running militias and an abandonment of forced coca eradication.

Sanchez admitted that "total peace" had led to an increase in the strength of some armed groups.

"They grew because they betrayed the goodwill of the national government," he said.

He revealed that armed fighters had increased by about 1,500 in the last year alone.

Decertification would be a major blow to the Colombian military, just as it tries to rebuild strength and retake territory from insurgent leftist guerrilla groups.

Sanchez said the military's capabilities had been degraded in recent years, as military spending had been cut.

"They are weaker in certain capabilities, in intelligence, for example. We have fallen a little short in advancing rapidly in disruptive technology, such as drones and anti-drone weapons," he said.

"We don't have the same aircraft flying that we had 10 years ago."

The United States decertified Colombia once before, during the presidency of Ernesto Samper, whose 1994 campaign was accused of receiving money from the Cali cartel.

Some vital aid was frozen and foreign investment to Colombia dipped.

Eventually, the US resumed funding and, with a new government in Bogota, established "Plan Colombia" -- a billion-dollar US plan to overhaul the Colombian security services.

Despite today's challenges, Sanchez said the military's goal was to assert territorial control over all Colombia.

ELN guerrillas currently control a swathe of land near the Venezuelan border, where fighting has displaced about 56,000 people.

In a recent interview with AFP, ELN commanders vowed to repel a government counteroffensive and said years of "total peace" risk turning into "total war."

Sanchez dismissed the ELN as a "narco-criminal group" and vowed they would be met with "full force."

He also pledged to retake a major coca-growing region in the south of the country, a virtual microstate run by the Estado Mayor Central (Central General Staff).

Sanchez admitted retaking territory was a "wicked problem," but said it would be achieved.

"We're going to have to make a lot of sacrifice, we're even going to have tears, but in the end, we're going to achieve it."

(B.Hartmann--BBZ)