Colombia recalls ambassador from Washington after Trump's threats and comments

(Patria) - Colombia announced on Monday that it has recalled its ambassador from Washington after US President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on the South American nation and halt all payments to it, escalating a dispute stemming from US military strikes on vessels allegedly carrying drugs, Reuters reported.

Trump also called Colombia's leftist president, Gustavo Petro, an "illegal drug leader" on Sunday, which Petro's government described as an insult.

Colombia's currency fell 1.4% to 3,889 pesos per US dollar in Monday trading.

"Daniel Garcia-Pena, Colombia's ambassador to the United States, has been summoned for consultations by President Gustavo Petro and is now in Bogota," Colombia's foreign ministry said.

"In the coming hours, the national government will announce the decisions made."

Colombia's largest trading partner

Trump's comments about the drug leader marked a new low in relations between Washington and Bogota, which the US president accuses of complicity in the illegal drug trade.

Petro has opposed US military strikes on 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 US financial aid to Colombia would be cut and details of new tariffs would be revealed on Monday, but it was unclear which funding Trump was referring to. Colombia was once among the largest recipients of US aid in the Western Hemisphere, but this has been abruptly reduced this year with the closure of USAID, the US government's humanitarian agency.

The oil-producing nation currently pays a 10% tariff on most imports to the United States, a baseline level Trump has imposed on many countries.

The US is Colombia's main trading partner, with shipments north accounting for 35% of the South American country's exports, according to the Colombia-US Chamber of Commerce, while 70% of imports from the US are items not produced in Colombia.

Colombia's foreign ministry pledged to seek international support for Petro, who first gained prominence as a senator by uncovering links between right-wing paramilitary groups involved in drug trafficking and corrupt politicians, as well as for the country's autonomy.

Petro on Sunday condemned new strikes on vessels that killed three people, saying the ship belonged to a "humble family" and not the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group, as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had claimed in his comments.

"Mr. Trump, Colombia has never been rude to the United States... but you are rude and ignorant towards Colombia," Petro said on social media platform X. "Since I am not a businessman, I am even less of a drug trafficker. There is no greed in my heart."

Petro has pledged to tame coca-growing regions with social and military intervention, but the strategy has yielded little success.

Colombia, a major exporter of oil, coal, coffee, flowers, and bananas, recorded a trade deficit of $338 million with the US between January and July, according to data from the government statistics agency DANE.

US investors invested $2.27 billion in Colombia in the first half of the year, according to central bank data, representing about 34% of total foreign investment in that period.