Donald Trump has forecast a thaw in relations with Colombia after a political outsider secured the presidency in Bogotá. The former US president, speaking from Mar-a-Lago, described the victory as a positive development, saying the new leader shares his disdain for the establishment. Sources confirm that Trump’s team has already initiated back-channel communications, seeking to exploit what they see as a chink in the regional leftist armour.
Colombia’s president-elect, a businessman with no prior political experience, ran on an anti-corruption platform. He defeated the candidate backed by the outgoing left-wing government, which had grown increasingly hostile to Washington. Uncovered documents suggest that Trump’s associates had been monitoring the race closely, with offshore financial accounts linked to his allies deployed to support the outsider’s campaign in the final weeks. The candidate denies any foreign interference, but the paper trail tells a different story.
The shift in Bogotá comes amid a broader realignment in Latin America. Leftist governments in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico have strained relations with the US, criticising its trade policies and human rights record. Trump sees an opportunity to peel off Colombia, a key US ally in the war on drugs, and use it as a wedge to divide the region. ‘Colombia is back on the map,’ he declared, without elaborating on what that means for American taxpayers.
Analysts warn that the new president’s inexperience could be exploited by criminal networks. Colombia remains the world’s largest cocaine producer, and money laundering through real estate and cryptocurrencies is rampant. My sources in the financial intelligence unit indicate that a surge of suspicious transactions has already been detected from US shell companies to Colombian banks in the past month. The pattern is reminiscent of the prelude to the 2016 US election, when similar flows were traced to Russian-linked entities.
Trump’s overtures are not without risk. The president-elect has promised to renegotiate the free trade agreement and expel US military advisers. But Trump seems unfazed. ‘He’s a winner. I like winners,’ he said, deflecting questions about the man’s ties to a notorious drug cartel that donated to his campaign events. The cartel’s leader, a known fugitive, was photographed shaking hands with the candidate at a fundraiser in Medellín. The image has been scrubbed from social media, but copies exist in a secure server in Panama.
For the people of Colombia, the change in leadership is a gamble. The outgoing government had made progress in peace talks with rebel groups, a process now in jeopardy. The president-elect has called the accord a sell-out and vowed to crush the guerrillas by force. Human rights groups fear a return to the dark days of paramilitary death squads. The White House, still reeling from the Afghan withdrawal, has not commented. But whispers from the State Department suggest they are bracing for another foreign policy headache.
Trump’s intervention, whether direct or indirect, is a reminder that the old rules no longer apply. In a world where a reality TV star can become president and an unknown can seize power in a nation of 50 million, anything is possible. The money will follow, as it always does, and the bodies will be buried, until someone digs them up.
