Colombia has stopped buying weapons from the United States after Washington accused it of failing to curb cocaine trafficking.

Interior Minister Armando Benedetti confirmed the halt, while President Gustavo Petro said the U.S. was trying to meddle in Colombian politics and wanted a “puppet president.”

The decision follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to decertify Colombia as a partner in the drug war, despite Washington sending $380 million annually in aid.

Petro pushed back, saying Colombia actually seizes more cocaine than past governments and insisting his country “will not be blackmailed.”

Petro argued that drug consumption in Europe and the U.S. drives coca cultivation and blamed failed global policies. He added that U.S. focus on small boats was misguided, since most cocaine travels in containers on large ships.

The Colombian leader said he will not let farmers be punished for growing coca and called for new approaches that target social roots instead of eradication alone.

This latest clash adds to a series of disputes between Petro and Trump over migration, extradition, and Venezuela.

Coca cultivation has reached record highs, but Petro insists the drug crisis belongs to consumer nations, not Colombia.

Recent estimates suggest Colombia accounts for roughly 60-70% of the world’s coca cultivation, and produces a similarly large share of global cocaine output.

Colombia’s government has limited control in many remote coca-growing regions. Large parts of the countryside, especially in border zones and jungle areas, are effectively run by armed groups—leftist guerrillas, dissident FARC factions, and criminal gangs funded by cocaine.

State presence is often weak, with few roads, schools, or police. Farmers in these regions frequently rely on coca as their only steady income, since legal crops cannot be transported or sold easily. While the army sometimes launches eradication or security operations, control is usually temporary—when troops leave, armed groups return.

The popular soft drink Coca-Cola originally contained small amounts of cocaine, because it was made with coca leaf extract.

The formula was changed in 1904, when the company began using “spent” coca leaves (after the cocaine alkaloid had been removed). This allowed Coca-Cola to keep the flavoring essence of the coca leaf without the drug itself.

So Coca-Cola has been cocaine-free for more than a century, though the company still legally imports coca leaves from Peru (processed under strict government control) to create its flavoring syrup.

Sources: Al Jazeera, El Pais.