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By Brendan Cole and John Feng
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A map by Newsweek highlights the countries that President Donald Trump's administration has declared as "having failed demonstrably" to fight drug trafficking over the last year, including Colombia for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Newsweek has contacted the Colombian Foreign Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
The White House has escalated the U.S. counternarcotics posture, combining country decertifications with terrorist designations of cartels and transnational gangs.
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The inclusion of Colombia on a list with U.S. adversary Venezuela is likely to hurt the relationship between Washington and Bogota.
What To Know
On Monday, the Trump administration released its determination of major drug transit or major illicit drug-producing countries for 2026.
These were named as Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
The statement said a country being named on the list did not necessarily reflect its counterdrug efforts or cooperation with the U.S., but showed factors remained that allowed drugs or precursor chemicals to be transited or produced.
But among those countries—Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, and Venezuela were designated as having "failed demonstrably" in the previous year to adhere to their obligations fight drug trafficking.
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro expressed his unhappiness at the designation after the deaths of "police officers, soldiers and civilians who were trying to impact the trafficking of cocaine."
Colombia is the world's leading producer of cocaine, according to the United Nations Office for Drug and Crime (UNODC).
But Bogota has said that it is on the front line of the war against drugs, with hundreds of metric tons of cocaine seized and hundreds of hectares of coca crops destroyed by authorities.
Trump's order included Venezuela, accusing President Nicolás Maduro of leading "one of the largest cocaine trafficking networks in the world, which the U.S. will continue to seek to bring to justice."
Trump said Monday the U.S. military had targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three on board the vessel following a similar strike earlier in the month.
Bolivia was also on the list, but Trump praised "some positive steps" by its government to increase cocaine seizures and to work with United States law enforcement to bring drug criminals to justice.
Felix Cook, from security intelligence firm S-RM, told Newsweek that Trump had notably stopped short of fully decertifying Colombia's compliance with U.S. drug enforcement efforts, opting for a partial move aimed at the leftist Petro.
The decision avoids the sweeping aid cuts and sanctions that a full decertification would have triggered, but will still have a significant chilling effect on investment and tourism, he said.
"With Colombia's 2026 presidential election approaching, he may be hoping that the additional U.S. economic pressure helps push the country's politics back to the right," Cook added.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan, despite the Taliban's ban on illegal drugs, drug stockpiles and production, has sustained the flow of drugs to international markets, the presidential determination added.
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What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump's determination: "I hereby designate Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, and Venezuela as having failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to both adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and to take the measures required by section 489(a)(1) of the FAA [Foreign Assistance Act]."
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, per CNN: "The U.S. decertified us, after tens of deaths among police officers, soldiers and civilians who were trying to impact the trafficking of cocaine."
Felix Cook, associate director at security intelligence firm S-RM: "President Trump notably stopped short of fully decertifying Colombia's compliance with US drug enforcement efforts.
"The decision avoids the sweeping aid cuts and sanctions that a full decertification would have triggered, but will still have a significant chilling effect on investment and tourism, with Colombia joining the dubious company of Venezuela, Myanmar, and Afghanistan."
What Happens Next
Trump's comments following the strike on a boat from Venezuela suggest that a further clampdown on such vessels in the Caribbean is imminent and the inclusion of Columbia on the list points to a broader campaign against narcotics.
Update 09/16/25, 2:55 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Felix Cook.
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