US removes Venezuela from drug list, Trump says
Trump says the country has made progress against narcotics since Maduro's removal, may also remove Colombia and Bolivia.
United States President Donald Trump’s administration has decided to remove from its list of countries which have failed to demonstrably combat illegal drug trafficking for the first time in more than 20 years, and is considering removing Colombia and Bolivia.
“In Venezuela, thanks to my Administration’s arrest and removal of former illegitimate dictator and drug trafficker Nicolas Maduro, we are already seeing the results of growing cooperation with the country’s interim government against cartels,” Trump said in a statement submitted to the US Congress on Tuesday and released Wednesday.
The US abducted Maduro, a leftist and long-time critic of Washington, in January and is trying him in a New York City federal court on drug trafficking charges. Washington has since been working with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, securing agreements for US oil companies to access resources in the oil-rich country.
Trump praised Bolivia and Colombia for electing new conservative leaders that broke with previous leftist governments, saying he expects them to ramp up efforts at coca eradication and combating “narcoterrorist” groups but would keep their designations in place for the time being.