Cocaine production in Colombia remained near record levels in 2021, according to estimates released on Thursday by the White House, raising the stakes for bilateral cooperation between the United States and Colombia's next administration.
During this year’s presidential campaign, Petro said that he wants to boost development programs in isolated areas so that farmers can get legal products to market while they voluntarily eradicate their coca fields. He also said he wants to renegotiate a free trade agreement with the United States which he says has made it harder for some Colombian farmers to sell their crops.
Petro has long criticized U.S. backed efforts to fumigate coca crops using small planes. These programs were suspended in 2015 after studies suggested that the chemical they were using to spray coca crops could be harmful to people and the environment. The United States has said it wants to continue to work with Petro on a wide range of issues that include security, immigration and climate change. This week, Juan Gonzalez, the National Security Council’s director for the Western Hemisphere, said he would visit Colombia to speak with members of the incoming government.
In its statement, the White House also noted that cocaine production remains high in Peru and Bolivia, which are the world’s second and third largest producers of the drug. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24,500 people in the United States died in 2021 from cocaine overdoses, while fentanyl overdoses killed 71,000 people.
Aerial video from Port Everglades, Fla., shows Coast Guard crews offloading more than $1.4 billion in seized cocaine and marijuana.
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