The Brief

The Trump administration on Monday added Colombia to a U.S. list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in nearly three decades, citing a surge in cocaine production and deteriorating relations with Colombia’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro.

Even as it determined that Colombia had failed to meet its international counternarcotics obligations, the White House issued a sanctions waiver, avoiding cuts to U.S. assistance and citing vital national interests.

Still, the designation represents a sharp rebuke to a traditional U.S. ally and threatens to strain cooperation on security and economic initiatives, analysts say.

Why Colombia is back on the US drug war blacklist

The backstory:

The last time Washington decertified Colombia was in 1997, at the h

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