The US has “decertified” Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs, adding it to a list of countries including Afghanistan, Myanmar and Venezuela. Behind the decision lie surging coca cultivation and a desire to signal that US support for Colombia is no longer unconditional. It represents a rupture in one of Washington’s longest-standing security partnerships in the region.
Under US law, the president must annually assess whether major drug-producing or transit countries are “fully cooperating” with American counternarcotics efforts. Those judged to be “failing demonstrably” risk losing access to most US foreign assistance and face US opposition in multilateral lending bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Colombia, which has long been regarded as Washington’s anchor in Latin America, has not been decertified since 1997. That move followed allegations that the then-Colombian president, Ernesto Samper Pizano, had accepted campaign contributions from drug traffickers. Washington’s frustration now focuses on a different concern: the transformation of Colombia’s drug policy under President Gustavo Petro.
