Petro talks coca eradication and U.S. sanctions with Trump

Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro spoke by phone with Donald Trump on Friday about coca eradication and Petro’s personal place on the U.S. sanctions list. The Colombian government said the two leaders discussed a voluntary eradication program that has already cleared about 30,000 hectares of coca and is expected to reach 41,000 hectares by the end of 2026.

Bogotá said the funding for the program is secured through the end of this year, underscoring how closely the anti-drug effort is tied to near-term political and budget decisions. Petro’s office said he asked Trump to remove the sanction the United States imposed on him in October, when Washington accused him of failing to curb the drug trade. Trump said he would do his best.

The call came during the final weeks of Petro’s presidency, before conservative Abelardo De La Espriella takes office, and at a moment when Colombia’s relationship with Washington is being tested rather than reset. Colombia has long been one of the United States’ closest security partners in Latin America, but counternarcotics cooperation has increasingly carried the weight of political mistrust, especially over how aggressively coca should be destroyed and how the results should be judged.

The coca totals matter well beyond farm fields. They are the kind of figures Washington uses in certification decisions, aid debates and broader diplomatic leverage, which gives Petro an incentive to show measurable progress even as his standing with the White House has weakened. Meeting the 30,000-hectare target gives his government a number it can point to in arguing that Colombia is still producing results under pressure.

For Trump, the conversation preserved a relationship that remains operational even after sanctions on a sitting Colombian president. His willingness to say he would try to help on the sanction question suggested a relationship that is less about alliance rhetoric than bargaining over drug enforcement, political standing and what each side can claim as progress. Petro wants relief from a personal sanction and recognition that Colombia is still acting against coca. Trump wants evidence that the anti-drug campaign is delivering enough to justify keeping the partnership intact.