In a significant development, Colombia, a nation that was designated as a major non-NATO ally by President Joe Biden in 2022, has been a long-standing collaborator with the U.S. military in upholding a semblance of a rules-based international order in South America.
This partnership has been instrumental in combating narcoterrorism and crime syndicates supported by neighboring Venezuela.
However, the geopolitical landscape and power dynamics in Latin America have witnessed a considerable shift in recent years. The election of former M-19 guerrilla Gustavo Petro, a sympathizer of both Venezuela and Hamas, as the Colombian president last year necessitates a reassessment of the U.S.'s relationship with Colombia.
In the midst of global attention being riveted on Ukraine and the escalating conflict in the Middle East, Hezbollah, Irans proxy, has been expanding its operations in Latin America, largely unnoticed by the international community. Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated transnational terrorist organization, recently pledged its allegiance to Hamas in its warfare against Israel and has established a physical presence in Venezuela.
The narrative of Hezbollah's presence in Latin America dates back a few years. In 2020, U.S. prosecutors indicted Venezuelan politician Adel El Zabavar for a widespread narco-terrorism conspiracy. In 2014, El Zabavar journeyed to the Middle East to enlist members of Hezbollah and Hamas to train and indoctrinate recruits at clandestine base camps in Venezuela. This led to a convergence of narco-groups and Islamic terrorists in Venezuela, facilitated by the dictator Nicolas Maduro, in a convenient and criminally expedient alliance.
According to prosecutors, the ultimate objective was to "create a large terrorist cell capable of attacking United States interests on behalf of the Cartel de Los Soles" a group of obscure Venezuelan criminal gangs, sponsored by the Venezuelan state with the Venezuelan armed forces at their disposal. The cartel continues to trade drugs and gold for weapons and recruits, launching a vast and well-funded asymmetric war against the U.S.
Given the current Colombian president's overt alliance with Maduro, he can no longer be deemed a reliable ally amid such significant security threats. By instructing Colombian armed forces to cease combat against terrorist groups and essentially surrender territory and grant immunity to narco-gangs as part of his highly controversial program "Paz Total," or "Total Peace," Petro has become a tacit ally of narco-gangs.
Former Colombian Sen. Ingrid Betancourt stated that Petro "financed his presidential campaign with narco money" and used "Total Peace" to enable "the guerrillas to take over Colombian territory."
Petro's recent announcement that Colombia's public/private oil company, Ecopetrol would become an associate of Venezuelas state-owned oil company Petrleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA one of the worst environmental polluters globally sent shock waves throughout Colombia and the world. Ecopetrol is a significant employer and wealth generator of Colombias economy with a solid long-term energy-transition plan and a history of successful management.
The proposition of partnering with PDVSA, a system notorious for embezzlement, with dilapidated infrastructure, owned by a corrupt and incompetent dictatorship, is not only an affront to Ecopetrols management but also sends a shocking message about Colombias economic future should Petro and his associates continue in power.
Following the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, Petro refrained from condemning Hamas. Instead, he accused Israel of genocide and threatened to sever relations with it. Israel responded by discontinuing its exports to Colombia. Similarly, Petro refrained from condemning Vladimir Putin for his brutal, unprovoked, ongoing assault on Ukraine.
Despite Petro's attempts to spin his propaganda web to the U.S. and play to both sides of the ideological divide, his disdain for the U.S. and Western values is evident. The U.S. should exert pressure on Petro with all possible negotiating tools to leverage his relationships in the region to bring about a swift regime change in Venezuela. If he proceeds with a Colombia/Venezuela oil partnership, the U.S. should make it clear that Venezuelan oil-related sanctions will be imposed on him and Colombia.
If Petro continues to defy the U.S. and support Nicolas Maduro and Irans terrorist proxies in the region, Colombia should be stripped of its status as a major non-NATO ally.
The U.S. should refrain from fostering strategic military relationships with presidents who endorse illicit crime, narco-trafficking, political imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings. America and Israel can no longer afford to pretend that a friend of terrorist organizations can be considered an ally in any sense.
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