In less than two weeks, Colombians will head to the polls in a runoff election to choose between a far-right outsider endorsed by President Trump, and a far-left senator who promises to deepen current President Gustavo Petro's policies and legacy.

Days after far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella finished first in Sunday's vote with 43.7% of the vote, followed by leftist Iván Cepeda with 40.9%, Petro sat down with CBS News to discuss his alternative approach to the war on drugs.

Petro defended his record on the cultivation of coca, the base material for cocaine. He called Mr. Trump's endorsement of his opponent an act of interference and accused Washington of abandoning anti-drug mission cooperation for ideological reasons. Petro warned that if the right comes to power, Colombia will see a wave of political violence.

Human rights groups have found that under the Petro administration, the membership, territorial control and violent power of organized crime groups have flourished.

Petro calls out Trump on political "intervention"
Mr. Trump weighed in on Colombia's election after de la Espriella won the first round. In a social media post, he gave de la Espriella his "Complete and Total Endorsement," and warned that "The results of this Election are very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship to the United States."

"Our republics were founded on the principles of freedom and sovereignty," Petro said, claiming the U.S. government is siding with narco-paramilitarism, underscoring Mr. Trump's support of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in the U.S. of trafficking and recently pardoned by Mr. Trump.

Petro said friction between his administration and the White House has come "because we are progressives, because we are on the left, and because we disagree on issues like Gaza."

He argued the U.S. has chosen to align against his government and back forces he identifies as complicit in the drug trade.

Still, Petro hopes to maintain amicable terms with the Trump administration, which has sanctioned Petro personally, withdrawn his U.S. visa and signaled criminal probes. According to a Colombian official working with Petro, he will no longer meet with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as he had initially planned during his visit to the United Nations.

In a statement provided to CBS News, mayor's office spokesperson Ivonne Rodriguez said: "We understand President Petro will return to Colombia earlier than originally expected, and the meeting between Mayor Mamdani and the President won't take place during this visit. But President Petro is always welcome in New York City and the Mayor continues to be interested in discussing how to advance dignity and democracy here and in Colombia."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in recent weeks that the current Colombian government has been "problematic," while calling most of the region "filled with American allies." He also said the U.S. would be "very forceful in guaranteeing that there is a free and fair election in Colombia."

"In Colombia, hatred immediately produces deaths"
On the question of violence and who is responsible for it, Petro was defensive. He insisted that the overall homicide rate in Colombia has remained relatively stable during his government, citing figures hovering around 25 to 26 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

What has changed, he said, is the composition of that violence. "Sicariato" or contract killings, have increased, he said, while what he calls "social crime" or crime that "comes from society itself," has decreased. He did not deny that criminal groups have grown stronger on his watch.

When asked whether he takes responsibility for a rightward shift in Colombia stemming from an increase in violence, due to failed peace negotiations with terrorist groups, he pointed to Colombia's long history of polarization and to global manipulation campaigns that he says are making populations see political opponents as enemies.

"In Colombia, hatred immediately produces deaths," he said. "Promoting a discourse of hatred, as is happening these days, 'gut the progressives…' is inciting a violence that could become unstoppable in this country."

The coca proliferation problem
Under Petro, forced coca eradication collapsed. Annual data for the last year of President Iván Duque in 2022 shows Colombian authorities eradicated 130,000 hectares of coca. Under Petro, that number fell to roughly 9,000, a reduction of more than 90%, which Petro does not dispute.

"I do not want forced eradication because it doesn't work," he told CBS News, arguing that "the money gets stolen."

His approach, instead, involved talking to rural communities and pursuing voluntary crop substitution.

"I stopped targeting peasant farmers in the territories," Petro said. "I stopped bombing, burning down their homes, forcibly displacing them and imprisoning them. Instead, I started talking to them, taking advantage of the fact that they trusted me because I am a progressive. What did I achieve? I stabilized it."

Petro walked CBS News through graphics that show a slight downward trend in total coca cultivation since 2024, but Daniel Mejía, a professor at Universidad de los Andes who has advised multiple Colombian governments on counternarcotics policy, questions the numbers.

Mejía said this is the first government in 27 years to delay publication of the United Nations coca crop census figures by more than a year. The data that has surfaced shows coca cultivation in Colombia rose by at least 9,000 hectares in 2024, reaching roughly 262,000 hectares. The data provided for the years since comes from within the government. Petro's response was that his government uses the same methodology as the U.N.

That answer does not satisfy Mejía, and neither does Petro's broader argument that crop substitution is working where forced eradication failed. The government never funded it, he said.

"They have a different approach; that's fine. But do that approach," Mejía said.

According to Mejía, budget execution for Colombia's crop substitution and alternative development programs never exceeded 15% of allocated funds in any of the first three full years of Petro's government. In some years, it was as low as 8%. Mejía explains Petro abandoned the stick and barely used the carrot.

What happens next?
The 1.6 million votes cast for Paloma Valencia, the mainstream conservative who finished third, are now in play. Valencia endorsed de la Espriella, though her running mate, a center-left politician Juan Daniel Oviedo, still has not.

De la Espriella outperformed his polls to capture 43.3% in the first round against Cepeda's 40.5%. He is slightly favored heading into the runoff.

If he wins, he has promised to resume widespread aerial fumigation of coca fields, a practice that has been banned in Colombia since 2015. He promotes pursuing boat strikes against suspected drug traffickers and bringing a security doctrine to Colombia similar to that of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.

Petro argues that by supporting the right wing, the U.S. is "losing allies who could be powerful partners in the fight against drug trafficking." Instead, he feels undermined by the Trump administration because of his progressive politics.

Source