Petro and His Mistake of Underestimating Trump
Petro hasn’t just isolated himself; he has made himself a political target. His “total peace,” which until now has only benefited the drug cartels, makes him a hindrance in Washington’s view.
In Colombia, the scandalous is no longer shocking. We have gotten to a point where the inclusion of a president on the Clinton List — a diplomatic sanction that in the past would have shaken a country — is received with a certain indifference. Nowadays, a scandal lasts less time than a meringue in a school doorway; it burns for a couple of minutes on social networks and evaporates before the country digests it.
It’s unprecedented in our history for the head of state to be associated with a tool designed to sanction drug traffickers, money launderers and authoritarian regimes. It’s worth remembering that Ernesto Samper Pizano,* who had the most chaotic relationship with the United States, was only decertified and lost his visa, but they didn’t dare, not even then, to put him on this shameful list.
The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act — known as the Clinton List — isn’t a list of suspects; it’s a sanction that seriously affects the reputation and financial capacity of those who appear on it. Around the world, those listed include characters such as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, the government of Nicolas Maduro and his ministers, banks in Iran and North Korea, and organizations linked to terrorism. For a democratic president to be placed in the same category, right or wrongly, is itself an institutional tragedy.
The gravity of the situation doesn’t allow for half measures. If his inclusion on the list is unfounded, Gustavo Petro has an obligation to demand a public correction. Yet, it’s been five days since the the event and nothing has happened.
Of course, we don't mean to absolve Donald Trump of responsibility. His warmongering vision and his desire to turn the war on drugs into a platform for power has led the U.S. to take dangerously interventionist, unilateral and aggressive stances.
However, as much as we condemn [Trump’s] ill-tempered style, we must also demand that Petro act with a minimum of statesmanship. Going out on the streets of New York with a megaphone, asking U.S. troops to disobey Trump, is a strategic blunder. He also turned a blind eye when affected groups shot arrows at the [U.S.] embassy in Bogota.
Instead of acting cautiously and responsibly, Petro went out of his way to openly provoke Trump, who’s on the warpath. Despite the skeletons in his closet — a campaign under investigation, his opaque relationships and erratic foreign policy — Petro opted to challenge the guy who today decided to declare an unprecedented war on drugs in which Colombia is an easy target.
It seems Petro doesn’t understand, or has dangerously underestimated, the current state of geopolitics. The global landscape has been reconfigured. After “resolving” the war in the Middle East, Trump has immersed himself in another war against drug trafficking in Latin America, sending a resounding war cry: “It should now be clear to the entire world that the cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.” Congress authorized Trump to use direct force against those cartels, a kind of “license to kill” that’s turned Latin America into a theater of military operations.
And it’s not just rhetoric. In recent weeks, the U.S. has shot missiles at 14 boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, resulting in approximately 51 casualties in Venezuela and Colombia’s area of influence. The four ships attacked yesterday were in the Pacific, as if to send a direct message to Colombia.
And as part of this escalation, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, capable of operating independently for months, was deployed to the region. This deployment is a clear message: The U.S. is ready to take decisive action. These aren’t academic or diplomatic debates at the U.N.; it’s about the sovereignty of shipping routes and control over transnational crime on the grounds of national security.
Petro hasn’t just isolated himself in this new landscape, he’s made himself a political target. His “total peace,” which until now has only benefited the drug cartels, the way he dismantled the anti-drug cooperation agreements and his ambiguous — if not complicit — relationship with Maduro, makes him a hindrance in Washington’s view.
The diplomatic noose is increasingly tightening. Petro has avoided condemning the systematic human rights violations in Venezuela, he has praised Maduro, and he came out to defend him, saying that the Cartel de los Soles doesn’t exist. Why is he so lukewarm in the face of a proven dictatorship? Why is his government avoiding giving clear answers to questions about potential financial irregularities in [Maduro’s] campaign?
* Translator’s note: Ernesto Samper Pizano served as the president of Colombia from 1994 to 1998.
In Colombia, the scandalous is no longer shocking. We have gotten to a point where the inclusion of a president on the Clinton List — a diplomatic sanction that in the past would have shaken a country — is received with a certain indifference. Nowadays, a scandal lasts less time than a meringue in a school doorway; it burns for a couple of minutes on social networks and evaporates before the country digests it.
It’s unprecedented in our history for the head of state to be associated with a tool designed to sanction drug traffickers, money launderers and authoritarian regimes. It’s worth remembering that Ernesto Samper Pizano,* who had the most chaotic relationship with the United States, was only decertified and lost his visa, but they didn’t dare, not even then, to put him on this shameful list.
The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act — known as the Clinton List — isn’t a list of suspects; it’s a sanction that seriously affects the reputation and financial capacity of those who appear on it. Around the world, those listed include characters such as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, the government of Nicolas Maduro and his ministers, banks in Iran and North Korea, and organizations linked to terrorism. For a democratic president to be placed in the same category, right or wrongly, is itself an institutional tragedy.
The gravity of the situation doesn’t allow for half measures. If his inclusion on the list is unfounded, Gustavo Petro has an obligation to demand a public correction. Yet, it’s been five days since the the event and nothing has happened.
Of course, we don't mean to absolve Donald Trump of responsibility. His warmongering vision and his desire to turn the war on drugs into a platform for power has led the U.S. to take dangerously interventionist, unilateral and aggressive stances.
However, as much as we condemn [Trump’s] ill-tempered style, we must also demand that Petro act with a minimum of statesmanship. Going out on the streets of New York with a megaphone, asking U.S. troops to disobey Trump, is a strategic blunder. He also turned a blind eye when affected groups shot arrows at the [U.S.] embassy in Bogota.
Instead of acting cautiously and responsibly, Petro went out of his way to openly provoke Trump, who’s on the warpath. Despite the skeletons in his closet — a campaign under investigation, his opaque relationships and erratic foreign policy — Petro opted to challenge the guy who today decided to declare an unprecedented war on drugs in which Colombia is an easy target.
It seems Petro doesn’t understand, or has dangerously underestimated, the current state of geopolitics. The global landscape has been reconfigured. After “resolving” the war in the Middle East, Trump has immersed himself in another war against drug trafficking in Latin America, sending a resounding war cry: “It should now be clear to the entire world that the cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.” Congress authorized Trump to use direct force against those cartels, a kind of “license to kill” that’s turned Latin America into a theater of military operations.
And it’s not just rhetoric. In recent weeks, the U.S. has shot missiles at 14 boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, resulting in approximately 51 casualties in Venezuela and Colombia’s area of influence. The four ships attacked yesterday were in the Pacific, as if to send a direct message to Colombia.
And as part of this escalation, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, capable of operating independently for months, was deployed to the region. This deployment is a clear message: The U.S. is ready to take decisive action. These aren’t academic or diplomatic debates at the U.N.; it’s about the sovereignty of shipping routes and control over transnational crime on the grounds of national security.
Petro hasn’t just isolated himself in this new landscape, he’s made himself a political target. His “total peace,” which until now has only benefited the drug cartels, the way he dismantled the anti-drug cooperation agreements and his ambiguous — if not complicit — relationship with Maduro, makes him a hindrance in Washington’s view.
The diplomatic noose is increasingly tightening. Petro has avoided condemning the systematic human rights violations in Venezuela, he has praised Maduro, and he came out to defend him, saying that the Cartel de los Soles doesn’t exist. Why is he so lukewarm in the face of a proven dictatorship? Why is his government avoiding giving clear answers to questions about potential financial irregularities in [Maduro’s] campaign?
* Translator’s note: Ernesto Samper Pizano served as the president of Colombia from 1994 to 1998.
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