Colombia's current government has weakened national security by easing pressure on drug cartels and insurgent groups, a shift that has fueled rising violence and instability across the country, former Colombian Defense Minister and former ambassador to the U.S. Juan Carlos Pinzón told Newsmax on Sunday.
Speaking during an appearance on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Pinzón said Colombia's leadership has moved away from hard-line security policies that once significantly reduced crime and insurgent activity, allowing criminal networks to regroup and expand.
"The current president of Colombia needs to worry because he has been too generous with criminals and drug traffickers," Pinzón said.
Pinzón, who is now running for president of Colombia, said the rollback of aggressive enforcement against cartels, dissident FARC factions, and the National Liberation Army (ELN) has put Colombian civilians at greater risk and undermined years of security gains.
"We need to go back and do what I did when I was minister of defense," he said. "Go after the criminals, go after the cartels, protect Colombian people — that's the most important thing."
According to Pinzón, the expansion of criminal activity is no longer just a domestic issue but a regional one, threatening stability across Latin America and creating downstream consequences for the United States through drug trafficking and migration pressures.
He argued that sustained security cooperation with the United States is essential both to protect Colombians and to maintain economic growth by attracting foreign investment and creating jobs.
"When you protect people and restore security, that's how you bring development, investment, and opportunity," Pinzón said.
He also pointed to Colombia's long and porous border with Venezuela as a growing concern, saying criminal organizations have taken advantage of weakened enforcement and permissive policies to operate across borders with relative impunity.
He said Colombia's willingness to accept millions of Venezuelan migrants fleeing the Maduro regime demonstrated humanitarian leadership, but added that the influx has also strained security resources as criminal groups exploit the situation.
The former defense minister warned that continued leniency toward armed groups risks further erosion of public safety and could reverse decades of progress made against organized crime.
"This is not just about Colombia," Pinzón said. "When crime expands here, it affects the entire hemisphere."
Colombia's government has defended its approach as part of a broader peace strategy, but Pinzón said lasting peace cannot be achieved without confronting violent criminal organizations head-on.
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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