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>>175155According to Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez , more than 2,000 people—including military personnel, police officers, judges, and prosecutors—have died during this administration while confronting drug trafficking.
Ahead of the bilateral meeting, the lead narcotrafficker of the criminal group ‘La Inmaculada,’ known as alias ‘Pipe Tuluá,’ was extradited to the United States. Acting Minister of Justice Andrés Idárraga Franco stated: “The Petro administration broke the historical record with 809 extraditions—6.3% more than Duque and 7.6% more than Uribe’s second term.”
Context:
Tensions between the two leaders have reached a boiling point in recent weeks, marked by public insults and threats of military action. While U.S. administration officials hope today's meeting will de-escalate the situation and foster "pragmatic cooperation," the backdrop remains fraught. President Trump has repeatedly accused the Petro government of failing to stem the northbound flow of cocaine and has vowed to expand military strikes to land targets across the region.
Petro, in turn, has been a vocal critic of U.S. maritime strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, as well as the administration's immigration stance. In an interview with the BBC last month, Petro compared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to "Nazi brigades" and accused Washington of treating sovereign nations as part of its "empire."
The relationship appeared to find stability following the Jan. 3 U.S. military operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. While the two men were reportedly "cordial" in a subsequent phone call, Petro has since warned of a "real threat" of military action against Colombia—an idea Trump previously remarked "sounds good."
On Monday, President Trump struck a more optimistic tone:
“He's been very nice over the last month or two. They were certainly critical before that, but somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice. He changed his attitude very much…. I look forward to seeing him," Trump said. "We're going to be talking about drugs because tremendous amounts of drugs come out of his country…So we're going to have a good meeting.”
Sanctions / Aid
Even as the United States remains the world's leading consumer of cocaine, the Trump administration has officially decertified Colombia, citing insufficient progress in the country's counternarcotics efforts.
https://state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/10/u-s-decision-not-to-certify-colombias-counternarcotics-efforts-and-sanctions-actions-against-colombian-officials-involved-in-global-illicit-drug-tradePresident Petro, Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, and members of the president's family were recently included on the OFAC list, also known in Colombia as the ‘Lista Clinton.’ Analysts suggest that a primary goal of this visit—especially given that Petro has only a few months remaining in power—is to negotiate his family's removal from that list.
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0292The US has recently stopped all aid to Colombia. Citing what he described as a lack of effort by the Petro administration to curb drug production, President Trump announced a halt to all 'large-scale payments and subsidies' to Colombia. This cutoff ends a long financial partnership; according to government data, U.S. aid to Colombia exceeded $740 million in 2023 alone.
https://bbc.com/news/articles/cn8xg1jve73o 48