Petro's criticism of Trump's order to the Pentagon to combat Latino cartels

President Gustavo Petro affirmed that " national sovereignty exists ," in response to the secret order that, according to The New York Times, US President Donald Trump signed, instructing the Pentagon to use military force against drug cartels in Latin America.

" Trump is already saying he's sending his planes to bomb, and we have to think about what we're going to do because then he's going to come and bomb Colombia. We're not going to do it because the bombs were already killing children, and now he's going to come? " Petro said during the handover of 6,500 hectares of land to farmers in the Caribbean department of Córdoba.

(See: Petro claims that Nicolás Maduro helps combat drug trafficking on the border .)

The president then added: " It's a matter for national discussion. I'm not going to comment yet, but national sovereignty exists, and I prefer to talk and coordinate rather than impose. That can't be imposed ."

Trump's order

Petro's statements came on Friday, August 8, after The New York Times revealed the existence of a secret order signed by Trump against drug cartels in Latin America, which is believed to be the most aggressive measure taken by his administration to date.

(See: The offers being made to the United States to avoid tariffs .)

According to the New York newspaper, the presidential order would provide a legal basis for the U.S. Armed Forces to conduct direct and unilateral military operations against cartels on foreign soil.

According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the US military high command has already begun developing plans on how to carry out these actions.

(See: Government advances in its intention to 'pave the way' to acquire Monómeros ).

The decision to attack these groups is part of Trump's fight against trafficking in fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that, according to Washington, is produced primarily by Mexican cartels using chemicals from China and trafficked to the United States, which is experiencing a serious crisis of overdose deaths from the substance.

In February, the Trump administration declared several Latin American cartels, but none Colombian, as terrorists. The New York Times had recently revealed a list that included the Gulf Clan, Colombia's most powerful armed group currently in talks with Petro's government.

Peace 'cannot be imposed'

In his speech, Petro stressed the need to discuss " whether it is possible to peacefully dismantle drug trafficking in Colombia so that there is peace ."

But the president insisted that this dismantling "cannot be imposed. We already know, we've been in the same situation for 50 years, 50 years and a million people have been killed in Latin America (due to drug trafficking), a war ."

(See: Peruvian government accused Colombia of air incursion on Santa Rosa Island .)

Colombia is the world's leading producer of cocaine and, according to the latest annual report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), accounts for 253,000 of the world's 376,000 hectares of coca leaf crops, or two-thirds.

Drug trafficking and other illicit economies such as mining and logging are the main sources of funding for illegal armed groups in the South American country, including the Gulf Clan and guerrilla groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the FARC dissidents.

(See: Businesses or consumers: who will bear the costs of Trump's tariffs? ).

EFE