The Colombian government informed US authorities on Monday that it will continue “coordinating and cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking,” after President Donald Trump stated the previous day that he “liked the sound of” the idea of carrying out an operation in Colombia similar to the one conducted in Venezuela, in which US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and bombed several locations in the country.
“The Colombian government, through the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice, is informing the United States government, through one of their intelligence agencies, that we will continue coordinating and cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking, based on their intelligence and technology, to destroy laboratories, criminal structures, and their camps,” said Interior Minister Armando Benedetti in a recorded statement alongside Justice Minister Andrés Idárraga, which was released on the social media platform X.
Similarly, Idárraga argued that “the fight against drug trafficking must continue to be waged jointly, using technology and all the advances in cooperation that the US government can provide.”
“We will continue to emphasize the fight against this scourge, particularly on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. The goal is to continue working together against this scourge that causes so much harm to both countries,” added the Justice Minister.
The statement from both officials comes after threats made by Trump against Colombia, which the White House occupant described as “very sick, governed by a sick man who likes to produce cocaine and sell it to the United States,” in remarks that echo many of the arguments used by Washington to justify the intervention in Venezuela, although in recent weeks—and specifically since Maduro’s capture—oil exploitation has been the focus of the US magnate’s speeches.
