WASHINGTON/BOGOTA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that Washington would immediately cut aid to Colombia and unveil a new tariff rate on Monday.
"As of today ... any other form of payment, or subsidies, will no longer be made to Colombia," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, without specifying which programs or funds were affected.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump also said he would announce on Monday new tariff rates on Colombian imports.
In response to Washington's accusation on Sunday that Colombian President Gustavo Petro is "an illegal drug leader," the Colombian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the accusation is "an act of the utmost seriousness that goes against the dignity of the President."
It also accused the White House of launching a direct threat against Colombia's sovereignty and condemned Washington's proposal to illegally intervene in Colombian territory, which violates the norms of international law and diplomacy, and particularly international treaties that protect the sovereignty, independence and self-determination of countries.
Colombia will appeal to international bodies to defend its sovereignty and the dignity of its president, and denounce the interference in the country's internal affairs, it said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Saturday that American forces carried out a strike on Friday against an alleged drug trafficking vessel believed to belong to a Colombian rebel group, killing all three men aboard.
The Trump administration has launched a series of strikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the southern Caribbean since the beginning of September, killing at least 27 people.
Petro has accused the United States of using its anti-drug policy as a pretext to justify the use of force in the Caribbean region to take control of oil reserves. In September, his U.S. visa was revoked after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey Trump's orders when attending the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
U.S. media outlets, citing State Department data, reported that Washington has provided more than 210 million U.S. dollars in aid to Colombia so far this fiscal year. ■