In Colombia, $70 million in funding for environmental and conservation projects from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been put on hold following President Donald Trump's efforts to reduce the organization, revealed the country's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad in Bogota on Thursday.
The primary impact of this freeze will be felt in the Amazon region, where Colombia consistently loses hundreds of square kilometers of forest to deforestation each year.
Trump criticized USAID as "incompetent and corrupt" and reassigned its responsibilities to businessman Elon Musk, leading to a significant downsizing of the organization.
Almost half of the frozen funding was designated for USAID's Amazonia Mia program. The remainder was allocated to unspecified projects.
Colombia's Presidential Agency for International Cooperation (APC) had outlined a proposed USAID budget of $413 million for Colombia in 2025, aiming at peace-building, economic development, transition from illicit economies, climate change, and biodiversity conservation.
US bilateral cooperation with Colombia, including military assistance, amounted to $3.23 billion from 2018 to March 2024.
Before the freeze, USAID was supporting 82 programs with a planned expenditure of $1.69 billion, according to the APC, although details on the spending timeline were not provided.