Colombia recalls US ambassador after Trump’s tariff threat, drug remarks
Colombia said on Monday it has recalled its ambassador from Washington after U.S.
President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs on the South American nation and stop all payments to it, intensifying a feud stemming from U.S. military strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs.
Trump also called Colombian’s leftist President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” on Sunday, which Petro’s government described as offensive.
Colombia’s currency fell 1.4% to 3,889 pesos per U.S. dollar in early trading on Monday.
Colombia’s foreign ministry said. “In the coming hours the national government will inform of the decisions taken.”
“Daniel Garcia-Pena, Ambassador of Colombia in the United States of America, has been recalled for consultations by President Gustavo Petro and is now in Bogota,”
COLOMBIA’S LARGEST TRADING PARTNER
Trump’s drug leader comments marked a new low in relations between Washington and Bogota, which the U.S. president accuses of being complicit in the illicit drug trade.
Petro has objected to the U.S. military’s strikes against vessels in the Caribbean, which have killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions in the region. Many legal experts and human rights activists have also condemned the military actions.
Trump said U.S. financial aid to Colombia would be cut off and details about the new tariffs would be unveiled on Monday, but it was not clear what funding Trump was referring to.
