BOGOTA (Reuters) -A meeting on Monday night between Colombia President Gustavo Petro, U.S. charge d'affaires John McNamara and Colombia's recalled ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Garcia-Pena was a first step toward healing a bilateral impasse, Colombia's foreign ministry said early on Tuesday.
However, McNamara made clear that whether the U.S. imposes higher tariffs on Colombia, as threatened by President Donald Trump over the weekend, is Trump's exclusive decision, the ministry added in a statement.
Colombia recalled Garcia-Pena from Washington after U.S. Trump said he would raise tariffs on the South American nation and stop all payments to it, intensifying a feud stemming from U.S. military strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs.
Trump also called leftist Petro an "illegal drug leader" on Sunday, which Petro's government described as offensive, marking a new low in fraught relations between Bogota and Washington.
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.
It is desirable for the two countries to continue to coordinate in the fight against illegal drugs, the foreign ministry statement added, and Petro reiterated Colombia's commitment to expanding substitution programs for illegal crops like coca during the "long, frank and constructive" meeting.
However, the U.S. must base its decisions on accurate figures for coca-growing and cocaine production, the ministry added, reiterating comments by Petro that previous measurements contained errors which have now been recognized by the United Nations.
"The current government has seized more than any other, not just in volume, but in relation to coca crop growth," the statement said, adding the coca crop grew just 3% in 2024.
(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Nelson Bocanegra)
