Colombia hails ‘historic blow’ after largest cocaine bust in a decade

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Colombian authorities person made their largest cocaine bust successful a decade, confiscating 14 tonnes astatine its main Pacific port, arsenic President Gustavo Petro continues to combat backmost against claims from the medication of United States President Donald Trump of his complicity successful the cause trade.

The seizure successful the world’s largest cocaine-producing state came arsenic Bolivia announced the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) volition beryllium invited backmost into the country, 17 years aft being expelled, to bolster the caller blimpish government’s anti-cocaine efforts.

Pressure from Washington

The seizure comes arsenic the Trump medication has ramped up unit connected Bogota implicit caller months, branding its anti-drug policies insufficient and threatening to region Colombia from its database of allies successful its warfare connected drugs.

In October, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned President Petro, his woman Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia, his lad Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos, and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti implicit their alleged engagement successful the planetary cause trade.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Petro had “allowed cause cartels to flourish and refused to halt this activity”.

“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine accumulation successful Colombia has exploded to the highest complaint successful decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” Bessent said.

On Monday, Petro ordered Colombia’s Financial Information and Analysis Unit to publically merchandise his slope records in an effort to show helium has nary ties to cause trafficking.

“Don’t you find it alarming that my slope accounts and transactions contradict President Trump’s appraisal of a president democratically elected by Colombians?” Petro wrote connected X.

Petro has been captious of Trump’s anti-drug strategy since returning to office, condemning his administration’s repeated bombing of suspected trafficking boats successful the Caribbean and eastbound Pacific Ocean since September arsenic “extrajudicial executions”.

The Trump medication has formed its subject actions – including a caller melodramatic summation of warships stationed successful the portion – arsenic an effort to antagonistic illicit cause flows.

Venezuela has decried it arsenic a pretext to unit President Nicolas Maduro from power, arsenic fears turn successful Caracas that Trump is readying troops for imminent subject enactment against the South American country.

Bolivia’s blimpish shift

As Colombia and Venezuela look to beryllium connected a collision people with Washington, US ties with Bolivia are showing signs of betterment arsenic the South American state begins a new epoch of blimpish governance aft 2 decades of leftist rule.

Bolivia’s brand-new narcotics tsar, Ernesto Justiniano, told the AFP quality bureau connected Friday that the DEA, expelled by socialist erstwhile president Evo Morales successful 2008, volition beryllium invited to instrumentality to the country.

Justiniano – portion of the caller medication of President Rodrigo Paz, a pro-business blimpish who took bureau connected November 8 – said “there is simply a governmental commitment” for the bureau to instrumentality to Bolivia, wherever helium said cocaine accumulation had spiralled retired of control.

“We volition nary longer beryllium an isolated country, a state that is self-absorbed and acts solely retired of governmental necessity,” Justiniano said.

“International practice is fundamental” to warring the cause trade, helium added.

Paz, the person of the centre-right Christian Democratic Party, is aiming for a crisp political, economic, societal and diplomatic displacement distant from the policies of Bolivia’s socialist leaders.

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