Trump calls Colombia’s Petro ‘illegal drug dealer’ and announces end to US aid

The US leader said the Colombian president was ‘low-rated and very unpopular’ (Fernando Vergara/AP)

President Donald Trump has said he would slash US funding to Colombia because the country’s leader “does nothing to stop” drug production.

In a social media post, Mr Trump referred to Colombian President Gustavo Petro as “an illegal drug dealer” who is “low-rated and very unpopular”.

He warned that Mr Petro “better close up” drug operations “or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely”.

The post, which came while Mr Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, is the latest sign of friction between the United States and one of its closest allies in Latin America.

In September, the Republican administration accused Colombia of failing to co-operate in the drug war, although at the time, Washington issued a waiver of sanctions that would have triggered aid cuts.

Colombia is the world’s largest exporter of cocaine, and the cultivation of the critical ingredient of coca leaves reached an all-time high last year, according to the United Nations.

More recently, the state department said it would revoke Mr Petro’s visa while he was in New York for the UN General Assembly because of his participation in a protest where he called on American soldiers to stop following Mr Trump’s commands.

“I ask all the soldiers of the United States’ army, don’t point your rifles against humanity” and “disobey the orders of Trump”, Mr Petro said.