President Trump and Colombia's president have intensified the volume of their war of words, increasing tensions in their relations following US forces targeted Venezuela with the aim of deposing President Nicolás Maduro from office.
"He operates drug factories and cocaine factories and that won't last much longer," Trump added.
Escalating Rhetoric coupled with Allegations
Addressing journalists on Sunday, the US president threatened analogous military action towards the South American nation, stating Colombia is also "very ill" and led by a problematic figure involved in producing cocaine and selling it to the United States."
Although Colombia is the world’s largest source of the narcotic, there is no evidence implicating Gustavo Petro, elected two years ago, is in any way connected to the trade.
A Frayed Relationship
The country has long been a key ally of the United States in the fight against narcotics trade and received bipartisan support in the US capital, however, the relationship have deteriorated markedly after Trump came to office.
The nation's narcotics trade is mainly overseen by guerrilla factions such as the Clan del Golfo, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and breakaway groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a large contingent of whom disbanded after a historic peace agreement.
The President's Defiant Answer
Upon being questioned if armed intervention comparable to Venezuela was being considered for Colombia, Trump replied: "It sounds good to me personally."
President Petro, a former leftist guerrilla who demobilised decades ago, categorically refuted these allegations. "I am no illegitimate and certainly not a narco," he declared.
"Trump speaks without knowledge. Stop slandering me," he expressed in a post.
"If US bombs target peasants, they will transform into thousands of guerrillas across the countryside. And should they arrest the president, whom a significant portion of the country admires and supports, they will release the fierce spirit of the nation," Petro warned.
From Fighter to President
The president dedicated part of his youth as a member with the radical M-19 insurgent movement but is not believed that he never engaged in fighting. Upon leaving the group, he took part in creating a new constitution over three decades ago and eventually served as a prominent senator. He held the office of mayor of Bogotá before being elected president.
"I made a vow to abstain from using arms again ... but for the homeland I shall resume the fight," he affirmed.
Heightened Measures and Broad Rejection
Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that the national leader's protection team was strengthened.
Several members of Colombia’s conservative opposition have expressed support with Trump, but voices spanning Colombian politics have rejected the possibility of American military action against their nation.
Political and Financial Pressure
The US withdrew Petro’s visa after he encouraged US military personnel to disobey any illegal orders. Later, in October, it placed asset freezes targeting Petro, his wife and a number of key allies.
Simultaneously the US was building up its troop levels near Venezuela and striking vessels thought to carry drugs to pressure Venezuela’s Maduro, the US have also conducted strikes against vessels off the Pacific coast near Colombia.
