Colombia Security Cooperation With the US, What Comes Next
COLOMBIA · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —The country Colombia is a long-time US partner against cocaine trafficking, governed since 7 August 2026 by conservative President Abelardo de la Espriella.
- —What happened On Monday 12 October, De la Espriella spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about security and cooperation, Colombia’s presidency said.
- —Next date On Thursday 15 October, Colombia’s Criminal Policy Council is due to review the draft Anti-Terrorism Statute before it goes to Congress.
- —UN deadline The UN peace mission’s mandate expires on 31 October, and the Security Council is expected to vote on its renewal before then.
- —US drug label Trump kept Colombia’s drug-failure label on 11 September but ruled US aid to Colombia vital to US interests, which lets it continue.
- —Prediction markets Polymarket gives a US invasion of Colombia in 2026 a 3.1% chance (13 October, 5:24 a.m. ET), on about US$155,000 in bets.
- —Still open Neither government announced a further meeting, a visit or follow-up talks on the Barranquilla memorandums after the call.
Colombia security cooperation with Washington faces a string of set dates after President Abelardo de la Espriella’s call with Marco Rubio on Monday 12 October. The first falls on Thursday, when a government council is due to review his draft anti-terror law.
Next come a UN vote on Colombia’s peace mission before 31 October and the next US drug list, due by 15 September 2027. Trump has tied any lifting of Colombia’s drug-failure label to progress over the coming year.
Colombia Security Cooperation Starts With a Thursday Review
The call with Marco Rubio produced no new agreement, so the next step in Colombia security cooperation sits in Bogotá. Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara said the Criminal Policy Council meeting on the bill was moved to 15 October, the news site Minuto60 reported.
La Silla Vacía, a Colombian politics site, also reported the move to 15 October. It noted that the council, which advises the state on crime policy, gives a non-binding opinion.
The bill is De la Espriella’s Anti-Terrorism Statute, which would create a public list of terrorist groups and freeze their assets. Its draft registry resembles the US Treasury’s sanctions list, Portafolio and Vanguardia reported, which ties its final text closely to Colombia security cooperation.
Vanguardia, a Bucaramanga daily, reported on 9 October that the draft had not yet reached Congress and would be filed in the coming weeks. Lara wrote on X that US and UN input on the bill’s terror list amounted to comments, not a review, Minuto60 reported.
What Congress Must Do Before 20 June 2027
La Silla Vacía reported that the bill will be presented as a statutory law, a special category used for matters such as fundamental rights. Under Article 153 of Colombia’s Constitution, such laws need an absolute majority of all members of Congress.
The same article requires approval within a single legislature and a prior review by the Constitutional Court, the country’s top court for constitutional questions. Any citizen may take part in that review to defend or challenge the law.
Under Article 138, the current legislature’s first session ends on 16 December, and the second runs from 16 February to 20 June. Statutory bills cannot be processed between 16 February and 15 March.
That makes 20 June 2027 the outer limit for a bill filed in the current session. The Constitutional Court review would still follow.
The UN Vote Before 31 October
The UN Verification Mission, which monitors Colombia’s 2016 peace deal with the FARC guerrillas, runs until 31 October under Resolution 2798 of 2025. The Security Council is expected to vote on a renewal before that date, according to Security Council Report, a New York research group.
The United Kingdom drafts the Council’s texts on Colombia, the group said. In the 2025 renewal, the United States insisted on removing two of the mission’s tasks, while most other members wanted to keep them.
On 12 October, Foreign Minister Omar Bula proposed to focus the mission on former fighters’ reintegration and security guarantees, his ministry said. Washington, a permanent member, can veto any renewal text, making the vote another test of Colombia security cooperation.
The US Drug List and the 2027 Deadline
Trump signed Presidential Determination 2026-23 on 11 September, and it appeared in the Federal Register on 18 September. It designated Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma and Colombia as having failed demonstrably to meet their counternarcotics obligations.
In the same text, Trump determined that US assistance to Bolivia, Burma and Colombia is vital to US national interests. Under US law, that finding lets aid to Colombia continue despite the label.
Trump wrote that he will consider lifting the label if Colombia makes progress on aggressive coca eradication and dismantling narcoterrorist networks over the coming year. US law requires the next list of major drug countries by 15 September 2027.
Extraditions to the United States under De la Espriella are the other running test of Colombia security cooperation.
What It Means for You
For US readers, the next phase of Colombia security cooperation turns on the anti-terror bill, whose terror list follows Washington’s own tools. Its filed text will be the first official version that Congress debates.
The next US drug report, due by 15 September 2027, is the next scheduled review of Colombia’s drug-failure label. Until then, US aid continues under the vital-interest finding, and the State Department’s travel advisory remains the reference for visitors.
What Prediction Markets Say
Bets that the United States will invade Colombia in 2026 traded at 3.1% on Polymarket (13 October, 5:24 a.m. ET). That market has drawn about US$155,000 in bets, and its price moved by only 0.1 points in the past day.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What Is Not Known
The exact date of the UN vote is not yet known, and the government has not given an exact filing date for the anti-terror bill. Neither government announced a further meeting or visit on Colombia security cooperation after the call.
Neither government’s account of the call mentions follow-up talks on the two Barranquilla memorandums of 8 September, on critical minerals and civil nuclear cooperation.
It is also unclear how Washington will measure coca eradication for the 2027 review.
More on this story: Colombia Says 125 Tons of Cocaine Seized Since August; Colombia Asks UN to Drop Rural Reform by 31 October; Colombia's Security Call With Marco Rubio Explained; Colombia's Santa Marta Escape and What Happens Next.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the next step in Colombia security cooperation with the US?
On Thursday 15 October, Colombia’s Criminal Policy Council is due to review the draft Anti-Terrorism Statute. The government then plans to file it in Congress, where it needs an absolute majority.
When will the UN vote on Colombia’s peace mission?
The mission’s mandate expires on 31 October, and the Security Council is expected to vote on a renewal before then. No exact date is known yet.
Does the US still send aid to Colombia?
Yes. Trump’s 11 September determination kept Colombia’s drug-failure label but ruled US assistance to Colombia vital to US national interests, which lets it continue.
When could Colombia lose its drug-failure label?
Trump said he will consider lifting it if coca eradication and action against trafficking networks advance over the coming year. The next annual list is due by 15 September 2027.
Sources: Presidential Determination No. 2026-23, Federal Register Vol. 91 No. 180, 18 September 2026; The White House, President Trump Designates the 2027 Majors List, 16 September 2026; 22 U.S. Code § 2291j-1, international drug control certification procedures, current text; Political Constitution of Colombia, Articles 138 and 153 (Senate legal database), current text; Presidency of Colombia, press statement on the call, 12 October 2026; Colombian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Omar Bula at the UN Security Council, 12 October 2026; US Department of State, Secretary Rubio’s Call with Colombian President De La Espriella, 12 October 2026; Security Council Report, October 2026 Monthly Forecast, Colombia, October 2026; Minuto60 (anti-terror statute, Criminal Policy Council), 8 October 2026; La Silla Vacía (anti-terror statute, Criminal Policy Council), 8 October 2026; Vanguardia (anti-terror statute), 9 October 2026; Portafolio (call with Marco Rubio), 12 October 2026; Portafolio (anti-terror statute registry), 8 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief