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The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, responded on Saturday night to the statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump, who had threatened him by suggesting he could be the next Latin American leader in the crosshairs, following the detention of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas during a U.S. military operation.
“I wanted to respond to Trump; everyone tells me not to because it complicates the situation further, but I believe I must explain to the people what is happening,” Petro said in a statement shared on social media, in which he asserted that Trump is “very misinformed” about Colombia.
"It's a shame because it disregards the country that knows the most about cocaine trafficking," stated the Colombian president, while defending his drug policy.
"Forty-six ground battles against the mafias, carried out by our military force during my administration, and twelve bombings; that amounts to two thousand seven hundred tons of cocaine seized," Petro specified.
The Colombian president added that this figure amounts to approximately "thirty-two billion doses that never made it to the streets of consumer countries." "Just imagine, Mr. President," he continued, "five million doses that didn't reach the United States and consumer countries. And it looks as if we haven't done anything."
The threat of Trump
Petro's words came after Trump issued a stern warning against him this Saturday during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
Asked about the rise of drug trafficking in the region following Maduro's capture, the U.S. president responded: "He has factories where he makes cocaine. He is making cocaine and sending it to the United States. So he needs to watch his back."
Trump, who ordered the military operation in Caracas that ended with the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, also stated: “I hope he is listening. He will be next.”
Hours earlier, Petro had condemned the U.S. military action and expressed that his government "rejects the aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America," calling for "peace and dialogue."
Maduro and Flores are already in New York, where they could face charges in a federal court in Manhattan, according to sources in the U.S. government.
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