BOGOTA - The United States has removed Venezuela from its list of countries which have failed to demonstrably combat illegal drug trafficking for the first time in more than 20 years, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement on Wednesday, adding he may consider removing neigboring Colombia. Because of his administration’s ouster and arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, cooperation with the country’s interim government, led by Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodriguez, is paying dividends, including in the killing of the Tren de Aragua leader known as ‘Niño Guerrero’, Trump said in the presidential determination published by the State Department. Venezuela has been on the failed list since 2005. “I have determined Venezuela should no longer be designated as having failed demonstrably to fulfill its drug control commitments. I expect to see continued, measurable progress from the interim government in dismantling narcoterrorist groups and stopping drug trafficking through Venezuela,” he said. “Colombia is poised to resume its place as our foremost security partner in the hemisphere” after the election of President Abelardo De La Espriella, Trump added. “If, as expected, Colombia makes progress on aggressive coca eradication and dismantling its narcoterrorist networks over the coming year, I will consider lifting the country’s ‘failed demonstrably’ status.” Colombia was designated last year by Trump for failing to combat cocaine production, amid repeated mud-slinging between him and former leftist President Gustavo Petro. Trump endorsed De La Espriella, a former lawyer for people connected to right-wing paramilitaries, who took office in August pledging a security crackdown. Both countries are still considered by the U.S. to be major transit hubs or major producers, along with Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, China, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama and Peru. Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Nia Williams
