Colombian President Declares 'I Would Take Up Arms Once More' if United States Launches an Attack.

President Trump and President Gustavo Petro have turned up the volume in their verbal conflict, further raising tensions in their relations after US forces attacked Venezuela with the aim of deposing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power.

"He runs drug factories and production sites and his time is running out," Trump remarked.

Escalating Tensions and Accusations

Talking to journalists on Sunday, Trump hinted at comparable use of force against Colombia, claiming the nation is also "very ill" and “run by a sick man who enjoys creating cocaine and selling it to the United States."

While Colombia is the globe's biggest cocaine-producing country, authorities have found no indication linking President Gustavo Petro, the nation's current leader, is personally involved in the illicit industry.

A Frayed Relationship

This nation for decades served as a staunch collaborator of Washington in the campaign against narcotics trade and enjoyed wide political approval in the US capital, but relations have worsened significantly since Trump came to office.

Its drug trade is mainly overseen by guerrilla factions like the Golf Clan, another leftist insurgency and renegade units of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the majority of whose members demobilised subsequent to a 2016 peace deal.

Petro's Firm Answer

When asked if armed intervention comparable to Venezuela was being considered for Colombia, Trump replied: "It sounds good to me personally."

The Colombian leader, once a member of a left-wing insurgent group who left armed struggle in the last century, categorically refuted these allegations. "I am no illegitimate and certainly not a drug trafficker," he affirmed.

"He comments uninformed. Stop slandering me," he wrote in a message.

"If they [the US] bomb peasants, they will become numerous insurgents in the mountains. And should they arrest the nation's leader, which many of Colombians admires and supports, they will unleash the ‘jaguar’ of the people," the president cautioned.

From Guerrilla to Statesman

Petro spent a period in his early life as a member of the leftist M-19 insurgent movement though it is believed to have ever engaged in fighting. Upon leaving the group, he was involved in creating a new constitution in 1991 and eventually served as a prominent senator. He served as mayor of Bogotá before winning president.

"I made a vow to abstain from using a gun ... but for the homeland I shall resume the fight," he vowed.

Heightened Measures along with Widespread Opposition

Colombia's defense chief stated that the president’s security detail was strengthened.

A segment of Colombia’s political right have sided with the US president, yet figures from across Colombian politics have rejected the threats of American military action against their nation.

Diplomatic and Economic Sanctions

American authorities withdrew the president's entry visa following he encouraged American soldiers to ignore unlawful commands. Months later, the US enacted financial sanctions on Petro, his spouse and several associates.

At the same time while America bolstered its forces near Venezuela and striking vessels thought to carry drugs to pressure Venezuela’s Maduro, American military assets executed attacks on maritime targets in the eastern Pacific region off the Colombian coast.