President Trump said progress has been made in counter-narcotics efforts since Maduro’s ouster, and that Colombia and Bolivia may also be eliminated.
Published September 16, 2026
The administration of US President Donald Trump has decided to remove Venezuela from its list of major drug transporting or producing countries, and is considering removing Colombia and Bolivia.
“In Venezuela, we are already seeing results from increased cooperation with the country’s transitional government against the cartels, thanks to my administration’s arrest and removal of former illegal dictator and drug trafficker Nicolás Maduro,” President Trump said in a statement submitted to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday and released Wednesday.
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The United States abducted Maduro, a leftist and longtime critic of Washington, in January, and he is on trial in federal court in New York City on drug trafficking charges. Since then, the U.S. government has worked with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez to secure an agreement for U.S. oil companies to access the oil-rich country’s resources.
Under U.S. law, the president must report annually to lawmakers on other countries’ efforts to combat drug production and trafficking. The United States is restricted from providing some types of financial aid to countries on the list.
In a recent report, President Trump identified Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma and Colombia as “clear failures” and also criticized Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Nicaragua.
President Trump praised Bolivia and Colombia for electing new conservative leaders who broke with previous leftist governments and said he expected them to step up efforts to eradicate coca and combat “narco-terrorist” groups, but said the designation would remain in place for now.
“The dramatic political changes in Latin America over the past year have created historic openings for cooperation between the United States and the region’s governments,” Trump’s statement said, hinting at a wave of right-wing leaders replacing left-wing critics of Washington in the region.
Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia are now led by leaders aligned with President Trump.
Many are also part of the US-led Shield of the Americas program, a regional military and security alliance that members say aims to combat drug trafficking and other criminal activity in the region.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it would divert $52 million in foreign military funding away from partner countries in Europe and the Middle East and toward Latin America.
