Colombia's President Gustavo Petro speaks in Bogotá, Colombia, on May 1, 2024. Photo: Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Monday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared that Colombia’s Free Trade Agreement with the United States has been “de facto suspended” since last April, when his counterpart Donald Trump included the country in his global trade war with a 10% tariff. Petro said he will announce new measures regarding the matter soon, marking a continuation of rising tensions after a US strike against a small boat in the Caribbean.
“The FTA is suspended de facto and by unilateral decision of the US government,” Petro stated on his X account. “By imposing 10% tariffs, the FTA treaty has already been violated and the old tariff preferences that kept Colombia under US control have been nullified.”
The United States is Colombia’s main trading partner, and the two countries have had a free trade agreement in place since May 2012. While the US has been supplanted in recent years by China as the main trading partner for most Latin American countries, Colombia remained one of the few exceptions.
El TLC está suspendido de facto y por decisión unilateral del gobierno estadounidense. Al poner aranceles de 10%, ya se violó el tratado del TLC y se volvieron nulas las antiguas preferencias arancelarias que hacían que Colombia estuviera bajo control de EEUU. Están rotas… https://t.co/hueByoUDiL
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 20, 2025
In 2024, trade in goods and services totaled US $53.3 billion, driven by US $28.3 billion in US exports and US $25 billion in imports from Colombia, resulting in a US $3.3 billion surplus for the United States, according to data from the Office of the United States Trade Representative. However, Colombia was hit by Trump’s initial tariff war, which allegedly targeted countries with a trade surplus with the US.
“I will respond intelligently,” added President Petro. “We have maintained the surviving clauses of the FTA because we have chosen to, but the Ministry of Commerce has the decrees that I have not yet signed, with a Colombian position in defense of national labor and the life of humanity.”
The recent crisis was triggered by the US attacks on small boats in the Caribbean Sea allegedly carrying drugs, which has resulted in the extrajudicial killing of some 30 people, including Colombians.
Ambassador in Washington recalled
The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled its ambassador to Washington, Daniel García-Peña, on Monday to discuss tensions with the United States.
This came after Trump announced he was suspending financial aid to the country, citing its “lack of results in the fight against drugs,” calling President Petro a “drug leader” and threatening to bomb the country. Through an official statement, it was reported that the diplomat is already in Bogotá, and the Colombian government is expected to announce new decisions in the coming hours.
Petro has criticized the constant aggression committed by the United States and its military deployment in the Caribbean, near the coast of Venezuela, which he says directly threatens stability in the whole Latin American and Caribbean region. He has also questioned what he called the hypocrisy of Washington, which he asserts actually seeks to control Venezuela’s oil, not to combat drug trafficking.
According to official data, the Petro administration has intensified Colombia’s efforts to improve drug seizures, reduce coca cultivation by 40%, and ensure that 50,000 small coca farmers convert to legal crops by 2026 as part of a three-year strategy announced in 2023.
Solidarity with Petro
Latin American leaders and organizations expressed their solidarity with Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday after the recent US escalation against his country.
Petro condemned the murders committed by the US military against fishermen in the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking. Ministries of his cabinet and state authorities almost immediately publicly showed support for the Colombian president and condemned what many called a mobster-style aggression by the US ruler.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales posted a message of solidarity for Petro on social media.
“We send our solidarity to brother President Gustavo Petro in the face of the attacks and threats from the President of the United States, Donald Trump,” wrote the former Bolivian president. “Gustavo Petro is one of the worthy voices seeking peace. The threats against our sister country Colombia are threats against the entire Great Homeland,” Morales added.
Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa also posted a message to send his support to the Colombian head of state.
“That the most powerful man on the planet is an irresponsible clown should concern all of humanity,” noted the former Ecuadorian president.
In another post, Correa commented on Trump’s threat of military strikes on Colombian territory: “I hope he also shuts the noses of his fellow countrymen,” in reference to the US being the world’s main consumer of cocaine and the most important driver of its production.
Trump Cuts Aid, Threatens Colombia’s Petro After Report of US Killing on Territorial Waters
Ecuador liberates survivor of US extrajudicial killings
Meanwhile, Andrés Fernando Tufiño, one of the two survivors of the extrajudicial killings carried out by the US military in the Caribbean Sea on October 16, was released Monday by Ecuadorian authorities after finding no evidence linking him to illicit activities. The decision calls into question the official narrative of the US empire, which has justified the killings as part of the war on drugs.
According to Ecuadorian government officials who confirmed this to The Associated Press, the Prosecutor’s Office found no “convincing evidence” that would allow legal action against Tufiño, who was captured by the US Navy and subsequently deported to his country after a miraculous survival. After receiving medical attention, he was released.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SL
