Trump lifts Venezuela narco status and says Colombia may follow

Washington removed Venezuela from the group of countries it says failed to meet drug-control obligations, and signaled that Colombia could follow next year if its new government makes progress against cocaine trafficking.

President Donald Trump cited Venezuela’s cooperation against drug cartels since US forces seized Nicolás Maduro in January, including the killing of Tren de Aragua leader Niño Guerrero.

“Given the positive steps taken under interim President Delcy Rodríguez, I have determined Venezuela should no longer be designated as having failed demonstrably to fulfill its drug control commitments,” Trump said in a statement sent to Congress Sept. 15.

Colombia will remain designated as having failed to meet its commitments for now. But Trump blamed former President Gustavo Petro for record cocaine production, while praising the new government that took office in August.

President Abelardo De la Espriella’s pledge to pursue an aggressive campaign against coca cultivation and cocaine production could get Colombia off the list next year, he said.

“I will consider lifting the country’s “failed demonstrably” status, which remains in place solely due to the incompetence and chaos produced by the previous far-left government in office throughout the bulk of the past year,” he said.

The decision underscores how Washington’s counternarcotics relationships in Latin America are being reshaped by victories for conservative leaders in several recent elections. Trump said he expects Venezuela to make further measurable progress in dismantling what he called narcoterrorist groups and in stopping drug trafficking through its territory to the US.

He also said Colombia is now poised to resume its role as Washington’s “foremost security partner in the hemisphere.”

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Colombia ’s ambassador to the US, María Consuelo Araújo, said the Andean nation will implement a strategy to eradicate illicit crops using all available legal methods.

“Our aim is to confront the entire drug-trafficking chain, from illicit crops, laboratories and chemical precursors to trafficking routes, criminal finances, command structures and international networks,” Araújo said in statement.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has imposed strict conditions on any resumption of aerial glyphosate spraying because of potential health and environmental risks. De la Espriella’s administration has also moved toward testing alternative herbicides, though one planned pilot using glufosinate ammonium has faced a legal suspension.