COLOMBIA/DRUGS/FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. and Colombia, longtime allies in the war on drugs, clashed after President Donald Trump warned he was considering removing Colombia from Washington’s list of drug-fighting partners because of a surge in the coca crop.
American officials, who say more than 90% of the cocaine in the U.S. originates in Colombia, have become increasingly critical since a record harvest last year, with the crop covering more acreage than in 2001. That was the year the U.S. began a $10 billion, multifaceted assault to destroy plantations of coca, the leaf used to make cocaine, and combat the insurgent groups that controlled them.
President Donald Trump late Wednesday [9-13-17], in an annual review of countries designated as global narcotics hubs, said he had contemplated decertifying Colombia as the U.S. has in the past against unfriendly governments. It was Washington’s harshest critique of Colombia’s government since the 1990s, when it accused the campaign of then-President Ernesto Samper of receiving funds from the Cali drug cartel.
Mr. Trump said he held off on downgrading Colombia, which could cost it funding and other aid, after considering its military’s collaboration with U.S. law enforcement agencies, but the comments drew a swift reaction from the government of President Juan Manuel Santos.”
-Kejal Vyas, “Despite U.S. Criticism, Colombia Says It’s Battling Coca Crop,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 14, 2017 06:38pm