Colombia has responded to US drug decertification by vowing an end to forced coca eradication and pausing the purchase of US military equipment, and more.

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Foreign Policy

Bolivia Reject US Drug Certification Report. The government of Bolivia has rejected its inclusion on this year's version of the US State Department's annual report naming major illicit drug producing or transit countries that are not cooperating with prohibitionist US drug policy demands.

Deputy Minister for Social Defense and Controlled Substances Jaime Mamani told Bolivia TV that the US is not a recognized body for evaluating other countries' drug policies and he questioned Washington's role as a "unilateral judge."

Mamani said Bolivia has a "comprehensive and sovereign" anti-drug strategy which includes eradication of illicit crops and cooperation with UN agencies such as the Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Narcotics Control Board.

The Ministry of Government also criticized the report, releasing a statement saying that "drug trafficking is a global problem with shared responsibilities, and the fight against it must be the result of multilateral cooperation as established by international organizations, not unilateral accusations."

It also noted that with the US as a leading consumer of illicit drugs maybe it should not be telling other countries how to run their drug policies.

Colombia Vows No More Forced Coca Eradication in Face of US Report Decertifying Country as Drug War Cooperator. Stung by Washington's decertification of the country in the State Department's annual report naming major illicit drug producing or transit countries that are not cooperating with prohibitionist US drug policy demands, President Gustavo Petro said in a televised address that his security forces would never again forcibly eradicate coca crops.

Colombia has long been a major partner with the US in the fight against drug trafficking, but tensions have risen between the leftist, pro-drug reform government of Petro and the Trump administration. The US said that decertification was solely due to Petro's leadership, a claim Petro said he found insulting.

The US move was "an injustice, a profound insult to the country that has shed the most blood so that society in the United States and Europe does not consume so much cocaine," Petro said. "If any political leader since [late presidential candidate Luis Carlos] Galan has fought against drug trafficking, it's been me, at the cost of living in constant insecurity, facing assassination attempts, and enduring constant persecution against me and my family."

Petro said that Trump ignored facts and instead listened to members of a "far-right ideological alliance" between "drug traffickers and Colombian politicians" with great influence in Florida. "They preferred this ideology over the truth," he said.

What the US political elite calls a drug policy or a war on drugs is in fact "a war against the peoples of the Third World," according to Petro.

He also lambasted US drug policies over the decades: "You have done nothing to reduce consumption, but instead allowed it to transform into something worse, from cocaine to fentanyl," he said. "This is why you now have 3,000 deaths from cocaine overdoses and what you get is 100,000 deaths a year from fentanyl… What does this show, Mr. Trump? That your entire 50-year anti-drug policy has failed, failed, and I repeat again, failed. Your war has been defeated by the mafia and drug trafficking.

Petro added that he had only agreed to forced eradication of coca because of a "stupid obligation" and despite evidence that the tactic is ineffective and comes at the cost of human lives. Not any more, he said.

"Shamefully, there were 13 deaths [among police] in 2025 for agreeing to the request to begin forced eradication, which was a mistake and I will not do it again. Forced eradication kills police in Colombia… Thirteen deaths for taking US policy seriously."

"The president obeys to Colombian law, not the orders of foreign governments," Petro said earlier on social media platform X. "In the end," it's the United Nations where the most important decisions are made about counternarcotics policy," not in the US, "the world's biggest cocaine consumer and the world's biggest fentanyl consumer," he added.

Colombia Suspends US Military Equipment Purchases Amid Diplomatic Dispute. In response to being named for the first time in decades on the State Department's annual report naming major illicit drug producing or transit countries that are not cooperating with prohibitionist US drug policy demands, the Colombian government announced last week that it is suspending military equipment purchases from the US.

The US accused the government of former guerrilla President Gustavo Petro of not acting forcefully enough against cocaine production and coca cultivation. That leaves Colombia in the company of nations such as Bolivia, Myanmar, and Venezuela in the eyes of the US.

Petro responded that Colombia will not submit to "blackmail" nor rely on "handouts" from Washington. He also pointed a finger back at Washington, noting that the US is a major illicit drug consumer.

Tensions between governments that have traditionally been drug war allies have mounted since the election of Petro two years ago and have ratcheted even higher since Trump was reelected last year. To signal its antipathy toward Petro's policies, earlier this year, the Trump administration halted logistical support for Black Hawk helicopters the Colombians use for anti-drug operations and suspended the delivery of M1117 armored vehicles.

Last year, Petro suspended military purchases from Israel to protest its war in Gaza. But it later had to reinstate technical cooperation with Israel to keep its Israeli-made fighter bomber maintained. Colombia may have to reinstate military purchases from the US for similar reasons. But in the meantime, it is signaling that it will go its own way on defense partnerships and seeking to diversify its supply lines.

International

New Zealand Approves Therapeutic Magic Mushrooms for Depression. Auckland has granted limited approval for the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, for the treatment of otherwise treatment-resistant depression, the government announced last Wednesday.

"Psilocybin remains an unapproved medicine, but a highly experienced psychiatrist has been authorized to prescribe it to patients who have not responded to other treatments," said Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour in a statement. He called it a "major step forward" for people suffering despite having exhausted all conventional options.

Regulations will limit prescription ability only to psychiatrists who have participated in clinical trials involving psilocybin.

In 2023, neighboring Australia became the first country to allow for the therapeutic use of psilocybin, as well as MDMA. It has also been approved for therapeutic use in several US states, including Colorado and Oregon.