President Donald Trump sharply criticized Colombia’s far-left leader Gustavo Petro on Sunday, labeling him an “illegal drug dealer” and announcing that the United States would immediately stop all payments and financial aid to the country.
Trump issued the rebuke in a post on Truth Social, accusing Petro of turning Colombia’s drug trade into its largest industry.
“President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia,” Trump wrote.
“It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America,” he added.
“AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA,” Trump declared. “The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc.”
Trump then issued a stern warning to Petro, saying that if Colombia’s leadership fails to act, the U.S. will.
“Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely,” he concluded.
The comments came just a day after Trump revealed that his administration carried out a targeted strike on “narcoterrorists,” two of whom were nationals of Colombia and Ecuador. The operation reportedly intercepted a vessel carrying a deadly shipment of drugs.
“U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics. There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that included footage of the strike.
“Two of the terrorists were killed. At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore,” he added. “The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution.”
Trump emphasized that his administration “will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea.”
In response, Petro said that one of the men returned to Colombia would face justice there. “We are glad he is alive and he will be prosecuted according to the law,” Petro told AFP.
{Matzav.com}
