US President-elect Donald Trump recently stated that Colombia hosts cocaine factories and that he would be proud to bomb them personally. This remark, made amid his stance against drug trafficking in the region, raises concerns over potential military interventions in the country. Columnist Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal warns of the implications for Colombian sovereignty.
Last Monday, Donald Trump stated that Colombia has cocaine factories where the alkaloid is manufactured. When asked if he would bomb those facilities, he categorically replied that he would be proud to do it personally. These comments are set against his declared battle with Venezuela and his intent to pursue drug traffickers in Mexico and Colombia.
Columnist Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal, in his opinion piece published in Occidente, voices concern over the prospect of Trump planning to intervene directly in Colombia to destroy cocaine processing labs. He argues this would constitute an undue interference in the country's national security framework. He also points to the existence of seven military bases in Colombia hosting combined US and national troops, which could enable such actions.
Gardeazábal warns that, similar to current operations where speedboats carrying up to one ton of cocaine are strafed, makeshift camps of the 28 armies of the 'traquetos' guarding 300,000 hectares of coca crops could be bombed. These strikes would be touted as war trophies, irrespective of the number of Colombian civilians killed. He draws a parallel to the bombing ordered by Gustavo Petro's government on Mordisco's camps, where no hesitation was shown in targeting even minors recruited by the drug traffickers.
The author concludes that a future Trump war secretary would have no qualms about machine-gunning whatever is necessary from the air. Colombia, he suggests, seems to be lining up to be 'manhandled', evoking rural fears with the phrase: 'now the war has come to us.'