Colombia Recalls U.S. Ambassador Amid Escalating Feud with Trump Over Deadly Caribbean Boat Strikes

Colombia has recalled its ambassador to Washington, Daniel García-Peña, for urgent consultations in Bogotá, heightening a heated diplomatic clash between President Gustavo Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump. The dispute centers on U.S. military strikes targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean, which have killed at least 32 people since early September and sparked accusations of sovereignty violations and murder.

Tensions boiled over this weekend after Petro condemned a U.S. strike on September 16 that he said killed Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza, describing him as a “lifelong fisherman” with no drug ties and labeling the attack an “assassination” in Colombian territorial waters. A more recent October 17 strike, which killed three people, drew further ire; Petro insisted the targeted vessel belonged to a “humble family,” not the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group as claimed by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who cited intelligence linking it to narcotics routes but offered no public evidence.

Trump, defending the operations as vital to halting drug flows into the U.S., fired back on Sunday via social media, branding Petro an “illegal drug leader” who encourages “massive production of drugs” across Colombia. He vowed to terminate all U.S. aid—worth hundreds of millions annually for counter-narcotics efforts—and impose new tariffs on Colombian goods, currently at 10%. Aboard Air Force One, Trump demanded Petro eradicate coca fields, warning: “If not, the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.” Colombia’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti decried this as a “threat of invasion or military action,” while the foreign ministry called it a “direct threat to national sovereignty.”

Petro countered sharply, attributing Colombia’s decades-long conflict to U.S. cocaine demand and dismissing American aid as “meagre and null.” In online posts, he framed the U.S. “war on drugs” as a tool for Latin American resource control, citing Venezuela strikes as oil grabs, and highlighted a recent Colombian seizure of nearly half a ton of cocaine at sea with “zero deaths” to underscore his administration’s approach.

Frictions have mounted since Trump’s January inauguration. Colombia initially rebuffed U.S. military flights deporting migrants, prompting tariff threats. In spring, Washington revoked Petro’s visa after he urged U.S. troops at a New York pro-Palestine rally to “disobey the orders of Trump” and “obey the orders of humanity.” By September, the U.S. decertified Colombia for failing international drug control standards—the first such action in nearly 30 years—despite prior White House affirmations of the alliance’s importance. Legal experts have broadly criticized the strikes, involving naval ships, jets, and drones, as unlawful under international law.

Notably, while Colombia dominates global cocaine production—with UN-reported coca cultivation at record highs last year—Trump referenced fentanyl loads on one struck vessel. Analysts point out fentanyl trafficking is predominantly Mexico-based.

Colombia’s Drug War Dilemma

As the world’s leading cocaine producer, Colombia credits its policies for record seizures but rejects the U.S.-backed militarized model as a failure. Petro, the nation’s first leftist president, has long advocated crop substitution over eradication, arguing U.S. consumption fuels 300,000 Colombian murders and a million Latin American deaths.

Perilous Consequences: Aid Cuts and Security Risks

This feud—one of the gravest breakdowns in decades between the allies—threatens counter-narcotics and security ties at a dire moment. Colombia grapples with its worst violence in a decade, driven by armed groups like the ELN and criminal syndicates.

U.S. assistance, once over $700 million yearly, has dwindled; Colombia received about $230 million in the fiscal year ending September 30, down from projections of $400 million due to prior cuts. Further reductions could be “gigantic” in scope, per Elizabeth Dickinson, senior Andes analyst at the International Crisis Group. She emphasized intertwined operations: “Security forces operate in tandem, sharing information and undertaking joint efforts that benefit both countries.”

Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli, Andes director at the Washington Office on Latin America (Wola), warned the spat has veered into “dangerous territory.” Attacking Colombia, the U.S.’s key counternarcotics partner, and slashing funds is “counterproductive,” she said, potentially destabilizing the region further. As Petro stands firm and Trump escalates, the path to de-escalation remains unclear.