AMNA NAWAZ: Colombia recalled its ambassador to the United States today amid rising tensions between the two countries after U.S.

military strikes took out what the Trump administration claimed were drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean.

But over the weekend, a very public spat broke out between the country's leaders, with Gustavo Petro of Colombia accusing President Trump of murdering a Colombian fisherman in one of those strikes and Trump calling Petro an illegal drug dealer.

Ivan Duque ]was the president of Colombia from 2018 to 2022, and he joins us tonight from Bogota, Colombia.

President Duque, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thank you for joining us.

IVAN DUQUE, Former Colombian President: Amna, thank you so much.

It's a pleasure to be here with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So your successor, President Petro, has now accused U.S.

President Trump of murder.

He also says the U.S.

is violating Colombian sovereignty with those strikes.

Do you agree with those accusations?

IVAN DUQUE: Well, I think what Petro wants to do right now is try to use this tension in order to influence the election that we have in 2026, that's for sure.

And also he has done everything that he has been possible or capable of doing in order to dismantle and to make fragile a bilateral relationship that has lasted for more than 200 years and actually being Colombia recognized just few years ago as a major strategic ally of the United States, not permanent member of NATO, which is the highest standard that any Latin American country has ever enjoyed with the United States.

So I think it's reckless what Petro has been doing.

And I think the fact is also that Colombia has been working with the United States in the Caribbean against narcotrafficking for many years with the Orion campaign.

So I believe what the United States is doing against narcotrafficking, it's well done.

It's based on a legal legitimacy.

And I think Petro is just trying to find an excuse in order to break a relationship that has been bipartisan, bicameral and historical.

AMNA NAWAZ: To be clear, the U.S.

now has some 10,000 troops in the Caribbean.

They have dozens of military aircrafts and ships.

President Petro is accusing President Trump of killing a Colombian national and without showing any evidence that this person was involved in any kind of illegal activity.

Have you seen evidence of that?

IVAN DUQUE: Well, I don't think there's evidence that proves that right now, Amna, but I think also what is interesting to express is that, in the last decade, Colombia and the U.S.

have worked jointly in interdiction, aerial interdiction and maritime interdiction.

And in those interdiction exercises, there have been usage of weapons if the vessels or the planes do not follow orders and do not proceed to be put under the custody of the judicial system or the military intervention.

So the bombardments that we have seen are all based in the fight against narcotics in the Caribbean.

So I think what Petro is trying to do is to exaggerate the situation, trying to make this a "patriotic" -- quote, unquote -- stand while trying to use this as an instrument in order to polarize the 2026 election.

But when you look at the at the facts, Colombia and the United States have done these kind of exercises for a long time.

So I think this is just an excuse that Petro is trying to find in order to break the relationship with the United States, which is just reckless.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, as you say, now the relationship between the two countries is very different, given -- even though they have had this shared history of counternarcotics in the past.

These two leaders have been clashing for months.

We saw President Trump threaten tariffs in January after Petro tried to block his use of military planes to deport Colombians back to Colombia.

You now see President Trump threatening to further cut aid, aid that was already slashed when he first came into office.

What would be the impact of that cut on Colombia?

IVAN DUQUE: Well, let me begin by saying something, Amna.

When you look at what happened, for example, last year, in 2024, Colombia received more than 14,000 deportations, which means that this was an exercise that was based on a certain criteria and was also based on certain protocols.

There's nothing that has been changed.

So Petro used this as the first opportunity to have a clash with President Trump early in his second administration.

Then, as you have seen, he has even gone to the streets of New York and asked the troops of the United States not to follow President Trump's order, which is reckless and it's something that it's illegal.

And that's why there was a very strong message from the United States.

Also, Petro has been decertified in the fight against narcotics.

And now with all this escalation of attacks from Petro to the United States, even calling the United States a Nazi administration and trying to promote genocide ALL over the world, what he's trying to do is just break their relationship.

With what interest?

Petro doesn't care if there are tariffs of 10, 20, 30, 50 percent because he actually wants the private sector to suffer from this clash, which is also reckless.

So my call is for the United States to individualize any sanction and not to create a collective punishment for the economic apparatus that would harm thousands of jobs.

And I think Petro wants that, but we have to avoid that.

And Petro wants that in order to be instrumentalized for the election in 2026.

I think there's a parallel diplomacy for mayors, governors, us as former presidents, the economic agreemiations (ph) that have called for the relationship to be maintained bipartisan, bicameral, and basically honoring the 200 years of very strong relationship that we have enjoyed, and not allow Petro to go his way.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, when it comes to these military strikes in the Caribbean, which have been the source of this latest round of tension, I just want to be clear on your take here.

You're saying, even if the Trump administration provides no evidence for the basis of their claims that these are narcotraffickers and we have had legal experts saying that some of the legal justification is highly dubious, there's a lot of questions around how legal these are, you're saying that's a standard that's acceptable to you for the U.S.

to continue to carry out these strikes?

Is that correct?

IVAN DUQUE: Well, if you look at the historical background of this, Amna, even in my administration, we had a multinational campaign called the Orion campaign, where Colombia, the United States, and more than 14 states in the Caribbean, we all worked against narcotrafficking.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Duque, if I may, this is not a multilateral effort.

These are unilateral U.S.

strikes being carried out.

IVAN DUQUE: Yes, which I consider are also based on the fact that the Cartel de los Soles has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States.

And vessels and planes leaving Venezuela with narcotics can be interdicted by the United States.

So is the United States doing a lawful action?

So far under the law of the United States, it seems to be lawful.

And also, when you look at the standards that other countries in Latin America, even in Colombia, we have interdiction capabilities in order to be effective against these kinds of threats.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is the former President of Colombia Ivan Duque joining us tonight.

President Duque, thank you so much for your time.

Really appreciate it.

IVAN DUQUE: Thank you so much, Amna.