Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrives at the White House on Tuesday for a high-stakes meeting with United States President Donald Trump, where a contentious portfolio of drug data is expected to determine the future of a decades-long bilateral alliance.
The summit follows months of diplomatic friction that saw Trump threaten military intervention in Colombia only weeks ago, a tension that both leaders now seek to navigate through the lens of drug interdiction and crop control.
At the heart of the discussion is a fundamental disagreement over how the world’s largest cocaine producer measures its own progress. Petro is expected to challenge the traditional reports provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which recently calculated record-breaking cocaine production of 3,001 tons and 261,000 hectares of coca cultivation for 2024.
The Colombian president disputes the U.N.’s extrapolation methodology, instead promoting the Colombian National Police’s Integrated Information and Monitoring System (Siima), which reported a slightly higher figure of 262,179 hectares as of last August.
Will Trump accept Petro’s revised drug data?
The Colombian administration’s claims regarding crop substitution are also likely to face scrutiny from Washington officials. While Petro has frequently cited the removal of 25,000 hectares of coca during his term, internal drug data suggests these figures may be significantly inflated, which could cause further scrutiny from the Trump administration.
The total includes families who have signed up for programs but have not yet removed plants, as well as 37% of areas already registered under the 2016 Peace Agreement’s previous programs.
According to reporting from El Pais, Gloria Miranda, the director of Illicit Crop Substitution, has acknowledged that verified substitution figures remain uncertain as the current “RenHacemos” program completes its first year.
Manual eradication is at an all-time low in Colombia
Manual eradication efforts have notably faltered, reaching a decade-long low in 2025, with only 8,051 hectares eliminated — a 93% drop from the peak achieved in 2020. In a shift in strategy to address these low indices, the Petro government confirmed it will resume the use of glyphosate via low-altitude drones in the coming weeks.
This method is intended to bypass constitutional bans on aerial spraying by planes while targeting illegal enclaves in conflict-ridden municipalities such as Argelia, Cauca. On the front of drug seizures, Petro has boasted of record-breaking results, claiming over 2,700 tons of cocaine have been confiscated during his administration. However, data from the Ministry of Defense indicates that 63% of the tons reported in 2025 were actually seized outside of Colombian borders during international operations.
Petro has framed these successes as part of a strategy that avoids the “bombardment” tactics used by U.S. forces in the Caribbean and Pacific, which he claims have resulted in over 100 deaths.
Petro’s administration faces scrutiny for a lack of ‘capos’ captured
The judicial cooperation between the two nations remains a pillar of the relationship, with Petro having signed 521 extraditions to the United States out of nearly 800 approved requests. Despite the volume of arrests, the administration faces criticism for the lack of high-profile “kingpin” captures since the 2021 arrest of alias “Otoniel.”
The government continues to pursue Nestor Gregorio Vera Fernandez, known as “Ivan Mordisco,” the leader of FARC’s main dissident faction, offering a reward of approximately US$1.3 million for information leading to his capture.
Finally, the progress of Petro’s “Total Peace” policy will be a factor in the dialogue, particularly as negotiations with various armed groups remain fragile. Tensions persist over the refusal to extradite Geovany Andres Rojas, alias “Araña,” a move the Colombian government made to avoid jeopardizing ongoing peace talks with the Comandos de la Frontera.
This decision, along with the growth of certain dissident factions during active dialogue, remains a primary point of concern for U.S. officials seeking regional stability and a reduction in the flow of narcotics.