President Gustavo Petro posted a barrage of tweets in response to the drastic measure adopted by the government of US President Donald Trump to decertify Colombia in the fight against drugs. The national government failed the scrutiny of US authorities, which prompted the US State Department to confirm this sanction, which shows that the strategy designed by Gustavo Petro is not producing the expected results.
Petro's annoyance was evident in the wave of tweets he posted in recent hours, attacking several political sectors, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio expressed his stance against Gustavo Petro, whom he described as an erratic leader.
“Colombia has historically been a great partner. Unfortunately, they now have a president who, in addition to being erratic, has not been a good partner when it comes to addressing the issue of drugs and drug cartels,” said the senior official and Trump confidant.
But that dig did not go unnoticed by Gustavo Petro, who responded angrily through his personal X account.
“It shows that I have not been a good partner in the struggle, when I risked my personal and family life in the fight against the ties between drug-trafficking paramilitaries and political power. I did not calculate that political power in the U.S. would end up in the hands of friends of politicians allied with paramilitaries,” the head of state expressed.
He added: “I am not going to bring the nation to its knees and allow peasants to be beaten. We are not sepoys, nor subjects. The U.S. is decertified for not reducing the consumption of cocaine and fentanyl in its society. That is the main cause of drug trafficking; the other is prohibition itself.”
He points out that I have not been a good partner in the fight, when I risked my personal and family life in the fight against the relations of drug trafficking paramilitaries and political power.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 16, 2025
I did not calculate that political power in the US would end up in the hands of friends of allied politicians... https://t.co/anNHzgueiU
I continue posting X messages; in one of them, he also attacked former President Iván Duque.
“‘Potential production in decades’, what is that? A pure nonsense to avoid responsibility. You allowed the actual areas of coca crops to grow by more than 60% during my government. We have managed to slow the growth of crops that has occurred since 2013,” the head of state noted. The president did not like that Duque exposed several points about mistakes he made and that materialized in the decertification.
"Potential production in decades" - what's that? - pure nonsense to avoid responsibility. You let the actual areas of Coca crops grow by more than 60%, during my government they are at 9%, we have managed to slow down the growth of crops that has been occurring since 2013.… https://t.co/nVLGqXE9D7
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 16, 2025
He also took a swipe at the mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez, and the mayor of Cali, Alejandro Eder, who traveled to the United States to meet with various authorities to strengthen cooperation in those regions.
Don't be naive. The mayor of Medellín and the mayor of Cali only belong to the same network of far-right politicians in Miami. The far-right in the US wants the far-right in Colombia to govern the country. That means going back to the mass graves, the dump... https://t.co/cE4d9g89Po — Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 16, 2025
Finally, he received a dose of Gustavo Petro's anger, the governor of Antioquia, Andrés Julián Rendón. The president accused him of not helping his government seize cocaine shipments.
“Stop lying, governor. The department most flooded with coca leaf is called Putumayo, and it's because cocaine now flows through the Amazon rivers toward cities in the southern cone of South America, Europe, and Africa,” the president emphasized. He also stated: “This change in geography is due to the fact that cocaine consumption has slowed in the U.S., because the number of consumers growing in the U.S. isn't demanding cocaine, but rather fentanyl. On the other hand, cocaine consumption is growing in Europe and the southern cone.”
“My administration has seized the most cocaine, reaching more than 1,000 tons this year. It was more than 800 tons last year. No previous administration reached this level. The current governor of Antioquia has not helped seize a single ton of cocaine,” President Petro concluded.
Stop lying, governor.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 16, 2025
The most flooded department of Coca Leaf is called Putumayo and it is because cocaine now goes through the Amazonian rivers towards the cities of the southern cone of South America, Europe and Africa.
This change in geography is due to the fact that cocaine consumption… https://t.co/mrVz0GjxyA
