US removes Venezuela from list of drug transit, production countries

Trump says country has made progress against narcotics since Maduro’s removal, may also remove Colombia and Bolivia.

US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez during a press conference on the US-Venezuelan oil agreement in Caracas, September 2, 2026 [Jesus Vargas/Getty]

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has decided to drop Venezuela from its list of major drug transit or production countries, 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.

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list 3 of 3 As Chavez and Maduro images disappear, is Venezuela entering a new chapter?

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.

Under US law, the president must inform lawmakers annually about other countries’ efforts at combating narcotics production and trafficking. The US is restricted from giving some types of financial assistance to countries on the list.

Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, and Colombia were designated as having “failed demonstrably” by Trump in the recent report, which also criticised Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Nicaragua.

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.

“Dramatic political changes in South America over the past year have created historic openings for United States cooperation with governments in the region,” Trump’s statement said, alluding to the wave of right-wing leaders that have replaced leftists who were critical of Washington in the region.

Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia are now among those countries led by leaders who have aligned themselves with Trump.

Many have also joined the Shield of the Americas programme, a regional US-led military and security alliance, which members say is aimed at combating narcotics trafficking and other criminal activity in the region.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it was redirecting $52m in foreign military funding towards Latin America, away from partners in Europe and the Middle East.

特朗普表示，自马杜罗下台以来，美国在禁毒方面取得了进展，他可能还会将哥伦比亚和玻利维亚也列入名单。

2026年9月2日，美国能源部长克里斯·赖特和委内瑞拉临时总统德尔西·罗德里格斯在加拉加斯就美委石油协议举行新闻发布会。[Jesus Vargas/Getty]

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府已决定将委内瑞拉从主要毒品过境或生产国名单中移除，并正在考虑将哥伦比亚和玻利维亚也移除。

特朗普周二向美国国会提交了一份声明，周三发布。声明中说：“在委内瑞拉，由于我的政府逮捕并罢免了前非法独裁者兼毒贩尼古拉斯·马杜罗，我们已经看到了与该国临时政府加强合作打击贩毒集团的成果。”

列表 1/3：鲁比奥在右翼势力在该地区取得胜利后前往厄瓜多尔、哥伦比亚和秘鲁。

列表 2/3：马可·卢比奥称美国寻求与拉丁美洲建立更多经济和安全联系

列表 3/3：随着查韦斯和马杜罗的形象消失，委内瑞拉是否正在进入一个新篇章？

今年1月，美国绑架了左翼人士、长期以来批评华盛顿的委内瑞拉总统马杜罗，并在纽约市联邦法院以贩毒罪名对其进行审判。此后，华盛顿一直与委内瑞拉临时总统德尔西·罗德里格斯合作，为美国石油公司获取委内瑞拉石油资源达成协议。

根据美国法律，总统必须每年向国会通报其他国家打击毒品生产和贩运的努力。美国被限制向名单上的国家提供某些类型的财政援助。

在最近的一份报告中，特朗普将阿富汗、玻利维亚、缅甸和哥伦比亚列为“明显失败”的国家，该报告还批评了墨西哥、加拿大、巴西和尼加拉瓜。

特朗普赞扬玻利维亚和哥伦比亚选举了新的保守派领导人，打破了以往左翼政府的局面。他表示，希望两国加大力度根除古柯和打击“毒品恐怖组织”，但目前仍将维持对两国的制裁。

特朗普在声明中表示：“过去一年南美洲发生的巨大政治变革为美国与该地区各国政府开展合作创造了历史性的机遇。”他指的是，在该地区，右翼领导人取代了批评华盛顿的左翼领导人。

玻利维亚、厄瓜多尔、萨尔瓦多、洪都拉斯、巴拿马、秘鲁、委内瑞拉和哥伦比亚等国的领导人现在都与特朗普结盟。

许多国家还加入了“美洲之盾”计划，这是一个由美国领导的区域性军事和安全联盟，成员国表示，该计划旨在打击该地区的毒品贩运和其他犯罪活动。

周二，特朗普政府宣布将5200万美元的对外军事援助资金从欧洲和中东的伙伴国转移到拉丁美洲。