Colombia announced it will stop buying weapons from the United States in retaliation for Washington’s decision to revoke the country’s certification as a partner in the fight against drugs, marking a sharp escalation in tensions between the two allies that could complicate Colombia’s security logistics.
Interior Minister Armando Benedetti confirmed the halt in an interview with Blu Radio, saying: “From this moment, Colombia will no longer buy weapons from the United States.” President Gustavo Petro, speaking at a cabinet meeting Monday as he anticipated Washington’s move, vowed to end what he called the armed forces’ “dependence” on U.S. “handouts” and “gifts,” and denounced what he described as U.S. interference in Colombian politics.
“The army will be better off if it buys its weapons or produces them with our own resources,” Petro said alongside his ministers, arguing that Colombian forces must preserve national sovereignty over defense purchases. On social media, he wrote that he would not “kneel the nation” and rejected the idea of being a “puppet president,” using the Spanish phrase “no somos cipayos,” which translates to “We are not colonial lackeys.”
Colombia’s move to stop buying weapons from the US follows Washington’s decertification decision
The decision follows Trump administration’s decision, announced Monday, to revoke the U.S. Drug Certification, directly targeting and blaming the Petro government for lack of committment to the fight against drugs.
The certification, part of an annual U.S. review dating back to 1986, is tied to security assistance and has amounted to roughly US$380 million a year for Colombia, according to officials and background reporting. From 2000 to 2018, U.S. aid to Colombia totaled more than US$10 billion, U.S. congressional figures cited in Colombian reports show.
Colombia’s top military officer sought to ease concerns about an abrupt end to cooperation. Adm. Francisco Cubides, commander of the armed forces, told AFP that the move did not signal the end of U.S. financial assistance to military institutions and said Bogota and Washington would continue working “very closely” against criminal groups. Cubides added that Colombia would press on with operations against the drug trade “with or without” U.S. support.
Colombia is set to look for new partners in weapons trades
Armando Benedetti said Colombia will look for new partners to supply weapons, citing a recent purchase of combat aircraft from Sweden as an example. “The United States, as a capitalist country, has to understand that there are market issues,” he said.
The revocation of the U.S. Drug Certification represents a political and practical blow to Colombia at a time when the government says it remains active against illicit groups. Defense ministry figures cited by the administration note that Colombia has seized 700 tons of cocaine so far this year and dismantled a record 4,570 clandestine laboratories. In 2023, weapons coming from the United States accounted for about US$1.2 million in Colombian weapons imports, according to the independent Observatory of Economic Complexity referenced in local reporting, a figure the government said underlines the vulnerability of relying on foreign suppliers.
The move marks a fresh rupture in ties between Bogota and Washington under the administration of President Petro, who last year suspended arms purchase from Israel and has often criticized American drug and foreign policy. The Trump administration’s decision to remove Colombia from the certified list includes an exemption that avoids the most severe automatic sanctions tied to the designation, Colombian officials noted.
Colombian officials said they will continue cooperating with international partners to combat drug traffickers and insurgent groups that benefit from the illicit trade. “The only one who wins if we are not working together is crime,” Adm. Cubides told AFP, adding that Colombia is “optimistic” it will continue its efforts “alone or with the support of other countries.”