The American government has added Colombia to a list of nations which, according to him, do not cooperate in the fight against drug trafficking, but for the moment, the decision is largely symbolic, and the American anti-narcotic aid will continue to rush to the Andean nation.
Colombia was one of the five countries that the US State Department has identified as a major drug transit or producing countries that have not faced the transnational drug trade, according to a September 15 press release.
Two other Latin American countries, Bolivia and Venezuela, were also awarded, alongside Afghanistan and Burma. 18 other countries have list, although the White House has judged that the counter-drug efforts of these acceptable nations.
However, the administration of President Donald Trump Applied a derogation This provided us with anti-narcotic aid to Colombia will continue despite the designation. Bolivia and Venezuela have not received similar derogations and have not received American security aid for more than a decade.
More specifically, the American authorities have stressed record levels The cultivation of COCA and the production of cocaine in Colombia to support the designation, criticizing the administration of President Gustavo Petro for his “unsuccessful attempts to ask for housing with narco-terrorist groups”.
The line is a reference to the flagship security policy of total peace of Petro (PAZ Total), which has aimed to negotiate with dozens of criminal groups in order to reduce violence and treat the deep causes of the country's armed conflict.
This is not the first time that Colombia has been found in the United States reticle for anti-drug efforts. The US government awarded Colombia for the first time in 1997 at a time when the Cali cartel was accused of financing the presidential campaign of the president of Ernesto Samper.
US authorities have declared that they would plan to modify this designation if the Colombian government took “more aggressive measures” to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine trafficking, as well as “better cooperation” with the United States to “translate the leaders of Colombian criminal organizations”.
As part of the total peace talks, Petro has promised not to extradite certain criminal leaders who negotiate with his government in the United States.
Despite the titles in the region, the award of Colombia does not provide any immediate consequences.
Although the United States government has declared that Colombia had not complied with its obligations, it has issued a derogation which guarantees “critical cooperation in the United States”, in particular on joint anti-drug efforts, can continue to appear. In other words, none of the funds approved by the US Congress to support Colombia have been suspended. Again.
But this decision has substantial political pressure on Petro, just as the Trump administration increases efforts to dryer On the international drug trade in the South of the Caribbean, where American forces have already destroyed at least two alleged drug trafficking boats. The United States can use the Petro Pressure Decreification Mechanism to help it to help them fight drug trafficking in neighboring Venezuela, not just Colombia.
Venezuela has for years a safe refuge for Colombian guerrilla groups, first the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Stuff) And now the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – Eln). More recently, the ELN has become the most dominant actor operating along the Colombia-Venezuela border, in particular in the departments of Arauca and Norte de Santander, where the group A widely moved Any stuff remaining dissident groups.
Total peace in danger?
The requirements of the American government that Colombia becomes more difficult in the culture of COCA and to extradite the main criminal leaders could undermine the negotiation position of the Petro administration in total peace talks.
While Petro sought to differentiate Previous administrations with its drug policy by moving away from heavy measures such as forced eradication and rather focusing on structural problems, American pressure can lead it to change course. Since the beginning of this year, when Trump has taken office, Petro has potentially discussed restarting the aerial fumigation of coca cultures using herbicides like glyphosate, which has been suspended since 2015.
See also: The great criminal powers dispute the key corridors in Colombia
A key negotiation objective for armed groups negotiating peace talks is that the government adopts progressive policies rather than punitive towards Coca farmers.
Accept to extradite the bosses of the crime directly contradicts the objective of the armed groups in the negotiations. They are looking for a judicial leniency in exchange for the establishment of their weapons, so that the negotiations would probably collapse with any indication that they could be sent to the United States, where they would probably spend the rest of their lives in prison.
The total peace process is already on a trembling political foot. With less than a year until the end of his mandate, there has been very little progress in the negotiation tables. The cultivation of COCA and the production of cocaine remain at record levels, and the crime groups have expanded their influence and have become more rooted, in certain cases thanks to ceases with the government under the banner of total peace.
Petro has difficult decisions to make. He remains to be seen if he can continue to protect the current peace negotiations until he leaves his functions while showing a desire to cooperate with the United States by isolating Venezuela and extracting key criminal actors who are not in talks with the government.
Featured image: a Colombian soldier supervises the eradication of coca cultures in Colombia. Credit: Raúl Arboleda (AFP)
