U.S. designates Colombia as failing to cooperate in drug war for the first time in nearly 30 years
NBC1 day
US Decertifies Colombia as Drug-Fighting Ally
Above: Soldiers walk among coca crops after being forced to leave their base in Cauca, Colombia, on March 8, 2025. Image copyright: Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
The decertification punishes brave heroes from Colombia who have sacrificed their lives fighting drug cartels, and fails to address the real problem. Despite seizures of record amounts of cocaine and the dismantling of thousands of laboratories, the country is getting blamed for a drug war that has fundamentally failed for decades.
Pro-Trump narrative
Trump's decisive action against Colombia sends exactly the right message that the U.S. will fight drugs. The decertification finally holds accountable a so-called ally that has been taking American taxpayer money while allowing cocaine production to skyrocket and refusing to extradite criminal leaders to face justice in U.S. courts.