What's at stake as Trump boat strikes strain US-Colombia alliance

21 minutes ago Share Save José Carlos Cueto BBC News Mundo Colombia correspondent Share Save

Getty Images Clashes between presidents Trump and Petro have been frequent since the US leader returned to the White House in January

For decades it was one of Washington's closest alliances. United in their fight against drug trafficking, Colombia and the United States co-operated closely, with the latter receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in US military assistance annually. But now that alliance appears be more fragile than ever. The leaders of the two countries may have a similar style - forceful and not prone to mincing their words - but left-wing Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump come from opposing ends of the political spectrum and have clashed frequently since Trump returned to the White House in January. On Sunday, tensions reached their highest point when Trump accused Petro of encouraging drug production in Colombia and announced the suspension of payments and subsidies to the South American country. This came after Petro had in turn accused US officials of murdering a Colombian citizen and violating his country's sovereignty in one of the multiple strikes that the US military has carried out against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean since early September. BBC Mundo spoke to experts who warned that with the alliance in jeopardy, both Colombia and the US could be at risk of losing o