Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia reacted Monday to U.S. adding Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the war on drugs, a measure it hadn't used against the South American country for over 30 years.

Petro, who has said on several occasions that whisky kills more people than cocaine, lamented Trump’s decision during a televised cabinet meeting, saying Colombia was penalized after sacrificing the lives of “dozens of policemen, soldiers and regular citizens, trying to stop cocaine” from reaching the United States.

He said that the Colombian forces will now end buying or receiving armament from the United States, and suggested it could produce their own weapons.

U.S. decertifying Colombia marks a rebuke to a traditional U.S. ally that reflects a recent surge in cocaine production and fraying ties between the White House and the country’s leftist president.

Even as it determined that Colombia had failed to comply with its international counternarcotics obligations, the Trump administration issued a waiver of sanctions that would have triggered major aid cuts, citing vital U.S. national interests.

Nonetheless, it is a major step against one of the United States’ staunchest allies in Latin America, which analysts said could hurt the economy and further hamper efforts to restore security in the countryside.

The U.S. last added Colombia to the list, through a process known as decertification, in 1997 when the country’s cartels — through threats of violence and money — had poisoned much of the nation’s institutions.

The president at the time, Ernesto Samper, was facing credible accusations of receiving illicit campaign contributions from the now-defunct Cali cartel and a plane he was set to use for a trip to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly session was found carrying 4 kilograms of heroin.

AP Video shot by Marko Alvarez