The Colombian news-analysis website Razón Pública asked me last week whether Colombia’s relationship with the Trump administration will “narcotize” because of huge recent increases in the country’s crop of coca, the plant used to make cocaine.

In my submission (in Spanish), I argue that “narcotization”—drugs becoming the number-one central issue in the bilateral relationship—probably won’t happen this year. There’s no appetite for a throw-down fight with Colombia over coca right now, nor does the Trump administration have officials in place, or a big enough foreign aid budget, to pursue it aggressively.

I don’t see a narcotization of the relationship in 2017. While there may be silence and a certain distancing, I don’t believe that there will be a withdrawal of U.S. support for implementing the FARC peace accord. In 2018, however, I’m not so sure. It all depends on the results achieved this year.

Read more at Razón Pública.