US formally drops Colombia as a counternarcotics partner

# US formally drops Colombia as a counternarcotics partner

The United States has removed Colombia from its list of reliable counternarcotics partners for the first time since 1997, citing rising cocaine production and worsening tensions with President Gustavo Petro's government.

According to evidence source 7123, the Trump administration made the decision on 2025-09-15 but issued a waiver that prevents immediate sanctions. That means the move is a political and diplomatic rebuke rather than an instant cut-off in assistance.

The step is significant because Colombia has long been one of Washington's closest security partners in Latin America. The evidence says successive US administrations once poured billions of dollars into crop eradication, military support and rural development in Colombia, but that cooperation has frayed after the suspension of aerial eradication and the 2016 peace accord with FARC.

The main policy reason cited by Washington is cocaine output. The evidence notes that coca cultivation has almost tripled in the past decade to a record 253,000 hectares in 2023, according to UN data. It also says Colombia seized a record 884 metric tons of cocaine last year, while manual eradication under Petro has slowed to 5,048 hectares this year, far below the government target.

Petro reacted by saying Colombia had sacrificed the lives of police officers, soldiers and civilians in efforts to stop cocaine reaching the United States. That response reflects a deeper argument about responsibility: whether Washington sees the problem as insufficient enforcement or whether Colombia argues the US has underestimated the social cost of the fight.

The designation also points to a wider strain in bilateral relations. Petro has criticised the Trump administration's immigration policy and US strikes in the Caribbean, while US officials have objected to Colombia's refusal to honour some extradition requests. The evidence describes the relationship as fraying well beyond narcotics policy.

The history of decertification matters here. Colombia was last placed on the list in 1997, during the crisis years of cartel power and institutional corruption. The country then became a major US security partner again, so the return of the designation signals how far the relationship has drifted.

What happens next depends on whether Colombia can persuade Washington that it is doing enough to reduce coca and cocaine trafficking. For now, the waiver protects the relationship from the harshest immediate consequences. But the political message is already clear: the US believes Colombia is falling short.

Citations

• Source 7123: decertification decision, waiver, coca and seizure data, Petro response and bilateral tensions.