After months of tension and criticism, the President of Colombia will meet with Trump

2026-02-03 09:18:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

After months of tension and criticism, the President of Colombia will meet with

Colombian President Gustavo Petro will travel to Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders after months of rising tensions and angry rhetoric.

Venezuela, drug trafficking, oil, security and US attacks on suspected drug ships are expected to be at the top of the agenda of the pair's discussions at the White House.

Tuesday's meeting comes after months of fierce exchanges of criticism between the two leaders, with Petro consistently criticizing repeated US raids on suspected drug ships in the Caribbean and Pacific, as well as the White House's immigration policies.

In an interview with the BBC last month, Petro compared US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to "Nazi brigades" and accused the US of treating other countries as part of its empire.

On the other hand, Trump has accused Petro's government of not doing enough to stop the flow of cocaine heading north and has pledged to expand airstrikes to hit targets across the region.

Ahead of Tuesday's visit, Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio said much of the conversation would focus on shared U.S. and Colombian concerns over security in Venezuela, with which Colombia shares a 2,200-km border.

Much of that border is under the control of the National Liberation Army, or ELN. This Colombian guerrilla group, which was founded in the 1960s, controls drug trafficking, extortion, smuggling, and illegal gold and coltan mining in border states like Zulia, Táchira, Apure, and Amazonas — and works with corrupt elements of the Venezuelan government.

While in Colombia the group operates against the government, in Venezuela it often serves state interests, according to security analysts, and operates as a paramilitary organization. Insight Crime, a research organization based in Medellin, estimates that 1,200 of the group's approximately 6,000 members operate in Venezuela, with a presence in eight of its 24 states.

For Trump, addressing the ELN threat will be vital to ensuring the security of U.S. firms involved in Venezuela's oil industry after Maduro's capture. Maduro's departure potentially creates an opportunity for a strategic partnership between him and Petros. Following Maduro's fall, Petro has already ordered 30,000 Colombian soldiers to the Venezuelan border to prevent the group from crossing. /CNA