Rubio, Scott urge Trump to certify drug-ridden Colombia

Rubio, Scott urge Trump to certify drug-ridden Colombia

Javier Manjarres
Javier Manjarres
|
August 5, 2019

The days of the “Cocaine Cowboys” are long gone, Harrison Ford is not fighting drug lords with the CIA,  Colombia is no longer considered to be the epicenter of the illicit drug trade (it still is), and the Pablo Escobars of the world have been replaced by organized Marxist guerrilla groups.

But even though Cocaine continues to flow from Colombian up through Mexico, the Colombian government is still the best anti-narco-trafficking partner the U.S. has in the Western Hemisphere.

Because President Duque’s government has shown U.S. officials that the American dollars sent to his country to combat the drug trade are being used wisely, affirming Colombia’s commitment to eradicating drugs.

Florida U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R) and Rick Scott (R) penned a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to “certify Congress that Colombia” is fully committed to the U.S “war on drugs.”

“We urge you to certify to Congress that Colombia is fully committed to working with the U.S. government on efforts to combat the illegal drug trade,” stated Scott and Rubio in the letter “As you know, Colombia is the most proactive nation countering narco-trafficking in the Western Hemisphere, only second to the U.S. in this regard. It is one of our nation’s strongest and most capable partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.” 

But while Scott and Rubio are all-in for Colombia, President Trump may not be.

Back in March of this year, Trump slammed Colombia’s President Ivan Duque for doing nothing to stop the flow of drugs from his country to the U.S. since taking charge of Colombia’s armed forces and drug interdiction agencies.

"I'll tell you something: Colombia, you have your new president of Colombia, really good guy. I've met him, we had him at the White House,” said Trump “He said how he was going to stop drugs. More drugs are coming out of Colombia right now than before he was president — so he has done nothing for us."

Historically, Colombia’s illicit drug trade has been dictated by which Colombian president was in office. Past Colombian Presidents Cesar Gaviria, Alvaro Uribe, and Ernesto Samper are all said to have, or have had ties to the Medellin drug cartel.

According to previous declassified US DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) reports, Uribe has neck-deep with Pablo Escobar, as was Samper.

“A previously declassified US Defense Intelligence Agency report from 1991 listed Uribe as one of 100 suspected Colombian “narcopols,” calling him a “close personal friend” of Escobar who was “dedicated to collaboration with the Medellin cartel at high government levels.”

The report continues:

“Escobar, through the Ochoas, is now demanding Uribe return the favors by trying to open a communications channel to Gaviria,” an embassy political officer wrote in the confidential cable, referring to then-President Cesar Gaviria.

Uribe is very close to current Colombian President Ivan Duque.

If you ever travel to Colombia or speak to a Colombian-American living in the U.S., they will tell you that a running joke among the Colombian community is that whoever wins their country’s presidency, that candidate's respective campaign was backed by one of the drug cartels.

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Javier Manjarres

Javier Manjarres

Javier Manjarres is a nationally renowned award-winning political journalist and Publisher of Floridianpress.com, Hispolitica.com, shark-tank.com, and Texaspolitics.com He enjoys traveling, playing soccer, mixed martial arts, weight-lifting, swimming, and biking. Javier is also a political consultant and has also authored "BROWN PEOPLE," which is a book about Hispanic Politics. Follow on Twitter: @JavManjarres Email him at Diversenewmedia@gmail.com

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