WASHINGTON, DC – In an abrupt escalation of diplomatic tension, the United States declared on October 19, 2025 that it will halt all payments, subsidies and aid to Colombia, accusing President Gustavo Petro of actively “encouraging the massive production of drugs” and failing to protect the United States from the flow of illicit narcotics.
In his post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote:
“President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs … AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLUMBIA. … Petro … better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”
The allegation comes amid a broader U.S. counternarcotics and military campaign in the southern Caribbean and off the coast of Venezuela, where U.S. forces have repeatedly conducted strikes on vessels smuggling drugs — and indeed the U.S. has characterized this activity as part of a “non-international armed conflict” against “narco-terrorists.” In recent weeks the U.S. has executed multiple strikes near Venezuelan waters.
