President Donald Trump left the door open to military operations within Colombia if the nation’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro, fails to properly combat drug trafficking that has plagued the nation for decades.
Petro — who has frequently clashed with Trump over the past year — immediately dispatched troops to the border and called for UN intervention following Saturday’s U.S. operation that led to Maduro’s capture.
The leftist president has also described the United States as a rogue “colonial” state and has falsely accused Trump of being involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. While addressing the UN General Assembly on October 25, Petro urged U.S. soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders if they involved inhumane actions, prompting Trump to revoke his visa.
President Trump responded to Petro’s latest comments shortly before returning to the White House from his Mar-A-Lago estate by sending a blunt warning about drug-trafficking within Colombia’s borders. “Colombia is very sick, too. Run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One.
A reporter then followed up by asking whether there will be future U.S. operations within Colombia. “Sounds good to me,” Trump responded without hesitation.
The history of drug trafficking in Colombia traces back to the 1970s, when the country emerged as a key supplier of marijuana to the United States, following interdiction efforts in Mexico. By the 1980s, this evolved into large-scale cocaine production and export, dominated by powerful cartels like those in Medellín and Cali.
At the height of Colombia’s cocaine-trafficking crisis, guerrilla organizations like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), formed in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, became heavily involved in the drug trade. The group’s influence has waned since then, though the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s second-largest guerrilla group, remains deeply involved in drug-trafficking.
The group maintains a close alliance with Venezuela’s ruling regime, which has provided sanctuary, training camps, and operational freedom in at least 12 Venezuelan states since the Chávez era. In return, the ELN supports Maduro’s government, acting as a paramilitary-like force against opposition, controlling border crossings for contraband.
Estimates indicate that the group derives up to 70 percent of its profits from Venezuelan illicit activities like gold and coltan mining.
The United States, which has designated the ELN as a terrorist organization, has launched multiple strikes against the group since President Trump authorized strikes on drug traffickers in the region. These include a October 17, 2025, missile strike on an ELN vessel in the Pacific off Colombia’s coast, which killed three people.
More recently, on December 31, 2025, Petro reported that a U.S. strike targeted a cocaine processing facility in Maracaibo, Venezuela, allegedly operated by the ELN.
