President Gustavo Petro accused the United States on Thursday, June 4, of allying with "drug traffickers" in Colombia, after the support expressed by Donald Trump for the far-right candidate for the runoff, Abelardo de la Espriella.

First modification: 06/05/2026 - 03:11 Last modification: 06/05/2026 - 05:38

President Gustavo Petro assured this Thursday, June 4, that the "allies" of the "United States Government" in Colombia "come from narco-paramilitary governance."

The Colombian president's statements come after Washington and Donald Trump himself expressed broad support for the millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella. The far-right candidate surprised by being the most voted in the first round on May 31, above the one who was the favorite in the polls, the left-wing candidate supported by Petro, Iván Cepeda.

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De la Espriella, a 47-year-old lawyer, has built his fortune after years of representing figures such as paramilitary drug traffickers, fraudsters and soccer stars.

"I regret that figures and governments that want to fight against drug trafficking are helping to precisely lead political power in Colombia to crime," said the first leftist president in the country's history.

"They are genocidal and drug traffickers," the Colombian president said this Thursday in an interview with the AFP agency at the Casa de Nariño, headquarters of the Executive, in Bogotá. Petro even said he had been "on the verge of being murdered several times" due to the persecution against the left.

In the campaign for the June 21 runoff, De la Espriella received the support of the American president, of whom he declares himself an admirer.

Read alsoElectoral meddling?: Trump's support for the Colombian candidate reopens the debate on interference in key elections

Petro has been a harsh critic of Trump and has frequently clashed with right-wing governments in the region allied with Washington: among them the Ecuadorian Daniel Noboa, the Argentine Javier Milei, the Chilean José Antonio Kast and the Salvadoran Nayib Bukele.

Iván Cepeda, candidate of Petro's party, accused De la Espriella of representing "mafioso fascism" after the first round.

De la Espriella presents himself as a successful businessman who made his fortune through his law firm and other commercial activities such as the sale of liquor. In addition, he is criticized for his sexist and homophobic comments.

After Trump's endorsement, the jurist promised to interact "like never before" with Washington if he is elected president.

"They are implementing an ideological policy that divides the world"

The historic relationship between the United States and Colombia came into tension during the Petro Government and with Trump's return to the White House. The two clashed on multiple occasions on social media.

Trump went so far as to say that Petro is a "drug trafficking leader" and financially sanctioned him amid an uptick in violence in the country, the world's largest cocaine producer.

The Colombian president regretted that his American counterpart breached an alleged agreement not to intervene in the elections in Colombia, reached during a visit to the White House in February.

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"They are implementing an ideological policy that divides the world between those who think like them and those who do not think like them," said the Colombian president while eating a chocolate bar made by farmers who replaced coca, the main component of cocaine, with cocoa.

Petro showed a series of tables with figures that, according to him, explain how drug crops have been reduced during his mandate in the country.

Read alsoTension between Trump and Petro: is the US relationship with Colombia cooling?

Cepeda: Trump's support has "interventionist overtones"

Cepeda, a 63-year-old senator, said that Trump's support for De la Espriella had an "interference tinge."

On June 7, Colombians will decide at the polls between the continuity of "Total Peace", the policy with which Petro sought a negotiated solution with different armed groups, or the "strong hand" of De la Espriella with megaprisons and bombings.

An old ally of Venezuela, Petro distanced himself from the ousted president Nicolás Maduro, today in a prison in the United States after his capture in a US military raid in Caracas.

"I really knew (Hugo) Chávez" when he governed, but afterwards "I did not return to Venezuela. I felt a political degradation of that process," he added.

Petro claimed to have spoken with Maduro, after not recognizing the 2024 elections in which he was proclaimed winner amid allegations of fraud. "I told him personally: 'Learn to oppose as we have done for 50 years in Colombia,'" he said.

With AFP

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