Washington, USA — President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued one of his strongest warnings yet in his escalating campaign against international drug trafficking, declaring that any country that produces or traffics drugs into the United States “is subject to attack.” His remarks signaled that Colombia, a longstanding U.S. ally, could also be drawn into potential U.S. ground operations aimed at crippling drug networks in the region — in addition to Venezuela, which Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike.
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Speaking at a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said he had been briefed on cocaine production in Colombia, adding, “I hear the country of Colombia is making cocaine, they have cocaine manufacturing plants… Anybody that’s doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack.”
The president reiterated that U.S. strikes against drug cartels operating inside Venezuela would begin “very soon,” accusing the government of President Nicolás Maduro of being deeply embedded in narcotics trafficking. “Venezuela has been very bad… probably worse than most,” Trump said. “But a lot of other people do it too.”
Escalating Military Operations
Any U.S. attacks on Venezuelan soil would expand Operation Southern Spear, a major maritime and aerial campaign launched in September. According to Pentagon data released Tuesday, the operation has so far destroyed 21 vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and killed 82 people — individuals the U.S. claims were drug traffickers — in what human rights groups have criticized as extrajudicial killings.
The deployment, one of the largest U.S. military operations in the Caribbean in decades, has dramatically increased pressure on Maduro’s government, which Washington accuses of leading the so-called Cartel of the Suns, designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization.
Colombia Caught in the Crossfire
Trump’s remarks come amid rising tensions with Colombia. In October, he labeled Colombian President Gustavo Petro a “drug trafficking leader” and suspended U.S. aid over what he described as Bogotá’s failure to curb cocaine production. The U.S. Treasury Department later added Petro to its OFAC sanctions list, following accusations of drug-related corruption.
Petro has vehemently denied the allegations, calling Trump “rude and ignorant toward Colombia.” He has also condemned the U.S. military buildup near Venezuelan and Colombian waters as “interference,” arguing that some of the recent strikes on alleged drug vessels occurred near Colombia’s Pacific coast.
Petro Responds: ‘Do Not Awaken the Jaguar’
In a direct response Tuesday, Petro publicly invited Trump to visit Colombia and witness the destruction of cocaine laboratories firsthand.
“Come to Colombia, Mr. Trump. I invite you to participate in the destruction of the nine laboratories we destroy every day to prevent cocaine from reaching the United States,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Without missiles, I have destroyed 18,400 laboratories during my administration. Come with me, and I will show you how they are destroyed — one laboratory every 40 minutes. But do not threaten our sovereignty, because you will awaken the Jaguar,” said Petro, referring to the powerful feline he often uses as a national symbol.
Petro criticized the sanctions imposed on him, adding, “You have already slandered me. Don’t continue down that path. If any country has helped stop thousands of tons of cocaine from being consumed by Americans, it is Colombia.”
Drug Production Surges Despite Efforts
According to the 2024 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), coca cultivation in Colombia surged to a record 253,000 hectares in 2023, while cocaine production increased by 53%, reaching an estimated 2,600 tons.
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