US to hike tariff on Colombia, calls Petro a ‘lunatic’ — will Trump’s aid freeze push relations to the brink?

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday night he would raise tariffs on Colombia and stop all payments to the South American nation. Calling Colombia's President Gustavo Petro a lunatic, Trump said that the country has become a drug manufacturing machine, and he is doing nothing to stop the production. While talking to reporters, Trump said, "They are a drug manufacturing machine, Colombia, and we're not going to be part of it. So we're going to drop all money that we're giving to them. They have, it has nothing to do with them stopping drug production.""And you look at the fields. The fields are loaded up with drugs, and they refine the drugs and they make tremendous amounts of cocaine, and they send it all over the world and they destroy families. No, Colombia is out of control. And now they have the worst president they've ever had. He's a lunatic who's got a lot of problems, mental problems," he added. When asked about the Lindsey Graham's claim that US will slap tariff on Colombia in coming days, Trump said that he read his statement and it is "correct." and added that he will announce on Monday. The move escalates tensions between Washington and one of its closest allies in Latin America. In a social media post, Trump described Petro as “an illegal drug leader” who is “low rated and very unpopular.” The Republican president warned that Petro “better close up” drug operations “or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.” Petro, who is active on social media, rejected Trump’s accusations and defended his efforts to combat narcotics in Colombia, the world’s largest exporter of cocaine, AP news agency reported. “Trying to promote peace in Colombia is not being a drug trafficker,” Petro wrote. He suggested Trump was being deceived by his advisers, described himself as “the main enemy” of drugs in his country, and accused Trump of being “rude and ignorant toward Colombia.” The Colombian Foreign Ministry characterised Trump’s statement as a “direct threat to national sovereignty by proposing an illegal intervention in Colombian territory.” Trump’s latest remarks against Petro heighten the possibility of an expanding clash in Latin America, where the U.S. has already increased pressure on neighbouring Venezuela and its leader, Nicolás Maduro. American naval ships, fighter jets and drones are deployed in the region for what the administration has described as an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Trump also authorised covert operations inside Venezuela. Unlike Venezuela, Colombia is a longtime U.S. ally and the top recipient of American assistance in the region. However, coca cultivation reached an all-time high last year, according to the United Nations, and there has been renewed violence in rural areas where the govt spent years battling insurgents before reaching a peace deal a decade ago. In September, the Trump administration accused Colombia of failing to cooperate in the drug war, although at the time Washington issued a waiver of sanctions that would have triggered aid cuts. Colombia received an estimated Rs 1,909 crore in the U.S. budget year that ended September 30, a drop from recent years that exceeded Rs 5,810 crore, according to U.S. figures. Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, has repeatedly feuded with Trump this year. Petro initially rejected US military flights of deported migrants, leading Trump to threaten tariffs. The State Department stated it would revoke Petro’s visa when he attended the UN General Assembly in New York because he told American soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.