As US military activity ramps up in the Caribbean and the Pacific, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has alleged that the Trump administrations pressure campaign on Venezuela is primarily about accessing the South American countrys vast oil reserves rather than fighting drug trafficking.(Oil) is at the heart of the matter, Gustavo Petro told CNN in an exclusive interview, pointing out that Venezuela possesses what are considered the largest oil reserves in the world.So, thats a negotiation about oil. I believe that is (US President Donald) Trumps logic. Hes not thinking about the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking, he continued. Petro added that Venezuela is not considered a major drug producer and that only a relatively small portion of the global drug trade flows through the country.Petro has been at odds with Trump since he returned to the White House. The Colombian leader has harshly criticized the Trump administrations immigration policies, its support for Israel, and its military activity around Latin America. On Tuesday, he accused the US of trying to impose its will on its neighbors, comparing its actions to imperialism.The United States cannot be considered an empire, but one of the nations among others, the president said.
When asked if he had a message for the American people, Petro referenced the oath given to US special forces: Your function, as they say in the oaths, is to fight against oppression. I repeated that on the streets in the United States, and it also cost me, Petro said.He appeared to be referring to the US State Department revoking his visa in September after he publicly called on American soldiers to disobey Trump and not to point their rifles at humanity.This is one of many actions the Trump administration has taken against the Colombian leader in recent months. In October, the US Treasury sanctioned Petro, accusing him of playing a role in the global illicit drug trade, a claim the Colombian leader has rejected.The sanctions were imposed days after Trump said he would halt all US payments and subsidies to Colombia, claiming Petro does nothing to stop the production of drugs in his country. Petro defended his administration's efforts, saying that his government had seized more cocaine than any other in history. So much so that in recent years, I have managed to ensure that the growth in crops, which is stagnating, is far surpassed by the growth in seizures, he said.When asked why Trump hadnt acknowledged this, Petro said: Because of pride. Because he thinks Im a subversive thug, a terrorist, and things like that, simply because I was a member of the M-19, a Colombian guerrilla movement active in the 1970s and 1980s.Petro also suggested that the US is comparing him to Venezuelas President Nicols Maduro. His comments came a day after the US designated the Cartel de los Soles, an alleged drug trafficking group that the US has claimed Maduro leads, as a foreign terrorist organization. Venezuela has denied the claims.While Maduro has a problem with democracy, Petro said he is not convinced about the Venezuelan presidents drug trafficking links. The problem of Maduro is called democracy the lack of democracy, Petro told CNN, adding that no Colombian investigation has shown us a relationship between Colombian drug trafficking and Maduro.According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Venezuela is not a cocaine-producing country. Of the 3,700 tons of coca produced worldwide, more than 2,500 tons come from Colombia, and Venezuela does not appear on production maps. Investigators from the US Drug Enforcement Agency reached similar conclusions, noting in their annual report published in March that 84% of the cocaine seized in the US comes from Colombia.Despite recent tensions at the top, US-Colombia relations remain intact. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has made it clear that the administrations issues are with Petro, not the institutions in Colombia.Our relationships with the people of Colombia, the economic sector of Colombia, the majority of people in politics in Colombia, and their institutions, in particular their defense institutions, are strong and enduring, and theyre going to be strong and enduring long after this individual is no longer the president there, Rubio previously said.
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