Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday said that cocaine is only illegal because it is produced in Latin America and suggested that legalizing it could diminish criminal organisations’ profits.
Petro during a cabinet roundtable compared cocaine to whisky and and said is “not worse than whisky.” “That is what scientists are analyzing. What indeed is affecting the US is fentanyl, which is killing them,” he said.
He suggested that criminal syndicates’ operations could be effectively eliminated through worldwide cocaine legalisation. “It could be sold like wine,” he said, suggesting that regulated sales could prevent youth consumption.

The Colombian leader has consistently argued that affluent, right-wing governments in the US and elsewhere have historically subjugated Latin America, creating ongoing economic disparities.
These views surfaced during his tariff disagreement with US President Donald Trump, following Colombia’s temporary refusal to accept deportees. During this dispute, Petro published a lengthy criticism of the US, declaring his intention to “resist.”
In his statement, Petro characterised Trump and other American officials as “slaveholders” who regarded Colombians as an “inferior race.” “I survived torture, and I will resist you,” he wrote. “Make me fall, President, and the Americas and humanity will respond.”
However, the Colombian leader reversed his stance and agreed to accept deportees. He subsequently urged undocumented citizens to promptly return to their homeland, stating his government would offer financial assistance to those who apply and choose to return.
“I ask Colombian men and women without documents in the US to leave their jobs immediately in that country and return to Colombia as soon as possible,” Petro said through a post on X last Friday. “Wealth is produced only by the working people. The Department of Social Prosperity (DPS) will seek to provide productive loans to those who return and enroll in its programs. Let’s build social wealth in Colombia.”
“Petro’s so-called ‘battle against the empire’ lasted no more than three hours, because, obviously, mistreating Colombia’s main trade partner would mean destroying the Colombian economy,” Colombian congressman Christian Garcés told The Latin Times on Wednesday.
The exact count of undocumented Colombians living in the US remains uncertain. Based on 2022 research from the Pew Research Center, roughly one million unauthorised migrants in the U.S. originate from South America, though specific country-wise figures were not available.