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Colombia has officially announced that it is pulling its ambassador from the United States.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, the relationship between President Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro has gone to shit in recent weeks, with Petro publicly lashing out at Trump on multiple fronts. This all started when Petro, speaking in New York during the United Nations General Assembly, accused the US of committing “murder” in Colombian territorial waters after a September strike on a fishing vessel allegedly involved in drug trafficking (a claim he disputed, insisting the boat carried an innocent fisherman). He went further, calling for criminal proceedings against US officials involved in the operation, explicitly stating that prosecution should include “the highest-ranking official who gave the order: President Trump.” The situation escalated when the Trump administration revoked Petro’s US visa and, as of yesterday, cut all US aid to Colombia (much of it intended to combat drug production within the country).
What’s going on now: In a notable development, Colombia has officially pulled its ambassador to the United States, citing what it calls a direct threat to national sovereignty from recent actions and rhetoric by the Trump administration. The recall of Ambassador Daniel García-Peña was confirmed Monday by Colombia’s Foreign Ministry, which said the ambassador had returned to Bogotá for high-level consultations with President Gustavo Petro. A brief statement posted on social media emphasized that the Colombian government would “announce the corresponding decisions in due course,” signaling that more retaliatory or defensive measures could be on the horizon.
The official justification for the ambassador’s recall centers on what Colombia describes as increasingly hostile and interventionist threats from President Trump. In particular, Bogotá pointed to Trump’s public statements suggesting that the United States would unilaterally “close up” coca fields in Colombia if Petro did not act—and that it “wouldn’t be done nicely.” Petro’s government interpreted those words as a potential threat of military action, with Interior Minister Armando Benedetti explicitly calling it “a threat of invasion.”
Following the ambassador’s withdrawal, President Petro reiterated that Colombia would not accept what he called “imperialist ultimatums,” accusing Trump of using the war on drugs as a pretext for regional control. In a series of public statements and posts on social media, Petro emphasized that Colombia contributes “the money and the deaths” in the drug war while the United States fuels it with consumption. He has also released videos showing Colombian forces conducting cocaine seizures “without a single death,” contrasting this with the civilian casualties caused by US military strikes.
The recall also comes just as Trump confirmed that he intends to impose new tariffs on Colombian imports later this week. Though no specifics have yet been released, such measures could significantly disrupt trade between the two nations, particularly affecting Colombia’s key export sectors like oil, coffee, and flowers.
