Colombia recalls ambassador from US amid tariff, drug spat

Colombia's foreign ministry said on Monday the country has recalled its ambassador from the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs on the South American nation and stop all payments to it, in a feud stemming from U.S. military strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs.

Trump also called Colombian President Gustavo Petro an "illegal drug leader" on Sunday, which Petro's government described as offensive.

Colombia's peso currency opened with a 1.4% fall to 3,889 pesos to the dollar in Monday morning trading.

"Daniel Garcia-Pena, Ambassador of Colombia in the United States of America, has been recalled for consultations by President Gustavo Petro and is now in Bogota," the Colombian foreign ministry said. "In the coming hours the national government will inform of the decisions taken."

Trump's drug leader comments marked a new low in relations between Washington and Bogota, which Trump accuses of being complicit in the illicit drug trade.

Petro has objected to the U.S. military's strikes against vessels in the Caribbean, which have killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions in the region. Many legal experts and human rights activists have also condemned the military actions.

Trump said U.S. financial aid to Colombia would be cut off and details about the new tariffs would be unveiled on Monday, but it was not clear what funding Trump was referring to. 

Colombia was once among the largest recipients of U.S. aid in the Western Hemisphere, but the flow of money was suddenly curtailed this year by the shuttering of USAID, the U.S. government's humanitarian arm. 

Colombia currently pays 10% tariffs on most imports to the United States, the baseline level Trump has imposed on many countries. 

Colombia's foreign ministry has vowed to seek international support for Petro, who first rose to prominence as a senator by exposing links between right-wing paramilitary groups involved in drug trafficking and corrupt politicians, as well as for the country's autonomy.

Petro on Sunday condemned a new bombing of a vessel which killed three people, saying the boat belonged to a "humble family," and not the leftist National Liberation Army rebel group, as claimed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in his own comments.

"Mr. Trump, Colombia has never been rude to the United States... but you are rude and ignorant to Colombia," Petro said on X. "Since I am not a businessman, I am even less a drug trafficker. There is no greed in my heart."

Petro has pledged to tame coca-growing regions in the country with massive social and military intervention, but the strategy has brought little success.