Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, took office in 2022 with the goal of extricating his country from the US-led “war on drugs” blamed for double-victimization of rural Colombians already living under the yoke of violent criminal groups.
On his watch, cocaine production in Colombia — the world’s biggest exporter of the drug — reached record levels as demand continues to grow in Europe and the United States — the principal consumer.
Several previous attempts to get Colombian coca producers to change crops have failed as armed groups caused havoc and government payments and other assistance eventually dried up.
For Gloria Miranda, head of Colombia’s illegal crop substitution program, told AFP would be naive to think this new program will end drug trafficking “as long as there is a market of 20 million consumers and it (cocaine) remains illegal.”
In his stated quest for “total peace,” Petro has sought to negotiate with a variety of armed groups, meaning fewer military operations and the abandonment of forced coca eradication.
But talks have mostly broken down, and the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House in January has ramped up pressure on Bogota.
The Trump administration is reviewing Colombia’s certification as an ally in the fight against drugs — a move that could restrict millions of dollars in military aid.
With high stakes for its crop replacement gamble, observers fear the government may be taken advantage of.
Some farmers may “try to deceive” by taking the money while continuing to grow coca, Argelia government secretary Pablo Daza told AFP.