President Trump on Friday attacked Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez, grumbling that Duque “has done nothing for us,” specifically on reducing illegal drug shipments.
Duque, a regional ally in U.S. efforts to support Venezuela’s political opposition, visited Washington last month, and then hosted Vice President Mike Pence in late February.
“I’ll tell you something: Colombia, you have your new president of Colombia, really good guy. I’ve met him, we had him at the White House. He said how he was going to stop drugs. More drugs are coming out of Colombia right now than before he was president — so he has done nothing for us,” Trump told reporters in Florida.
Duque, a center-right politician, took office in August, and while sitting alongside Trump last month offered statistics suggesting progress in anti-cocaine efforts.
“In the first four months of our administration, we have eradicated 60,000 hectares — more than was eradicated in the previous eight months,” Duque told Trump in the Oval Office. “We have a goal — and we will commit to that goal — because it is our moral duty to have Colombia free of illegal crops and free of narco-trafficking. We have to deliver.”
But Trump showed signs of impatience when Duque visited.
“I wouldn’t say that, at this moment, you’re ahead of schedule. But hopefully you will be at — sometime in the near future,” Trump said last month.
Trump did not threaten explicitly to cut U.S. foreign aid to Colombia — one of the top recipients, with the White House requesting $265 million for fiscal 2019 — but slammed Duque immediately after saying aid to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala had been cut off due to inaction to stop caravans of asylum seekers. Trump had also repeated a threat to close the U.S. border with Mexico if the caravans were not dispersed.
Although Trump has repeatedly threatened the Central American countries with an end to aid, his administration requested continued funding in recent budget documents.
