Colombian President Petro asks Trump to lift US sanctions as coca‑eradication targets are discussed

Colombian President Gustavo Petro held a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on 3 July 2026. During the call Petro reported that Colombia’s voluntary coca‑eradication program had reached the agreed milestone of about 30,000 hectares and that the goal of 41,000 hectares by the end of 2026 was on track. He asked Trump to use U.S. influence to remove him, his family and other officials from the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) sanctions list, often referred to as the “Clinton” list. Trump responded that he would “do his best” and called Petro “a good man,” saying, “once I got to know him, I understood you are a good man.”

The leaders also discussed continued U.S. support for the eradication program, which is funded through December 2026, and Petro appealed for Trump’s help to prevent political hatred from turning into violence in Colombia.

A separate United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report contradicted Petro’s figures, stating that only about 9,200 hectares had been certified as eradicated in the first four‑and‑a‑half months of 2026, far below the 30,000 hectares claimed in the call. The UNODC noted a new methodology for measuring eradication progress and reported a 3.5 % rise in total coca‑cultivated area in 2024.