Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called for ending petroleum extraction in the Amazon region and legalising cocaine production to preserve the world's largest tropical rainforest, EFE reported.

The remarks came during the inauguration of an International Police Cooperation Centre in Manaus on September 9, where nine Amazon nations launched joint efforts against organised crime.

The newly inaugurated cooperation centre brings together officers from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela under the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation framework. The facility aims to combat transnational criminal networks operating across borders throughout the Amazon basin.

Petro stated that preserving the Amazon remains "vital for saving humanity" and warned of a catastrophic tipping point if deforestation continues unchecked. The president argued that fossil fuels represent the primary threat to the region, requiring Latin America to embrace a global discussion about phasing out petroleum dependency.

Speaking alongside Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Petro acknowledged regional resistance to abandoning oil-based development models, specifically mentioning Venezuela's troubling reliance on petroleum revenues. This stance contrasts sharply with Brazil's position on exploring massive offshore reserves near the Amazon delta, which Lula defends as necessary for financing the country's energy transition.

The Colombian leader also took the occasion to reiterate his controversial proposal to legalise cocaine production, arguing this would dismantle criminal organisations devastating the rainforest. "If cocaine were legalised tomorrow, we would eliminate part of the threats to the Amazon," Petro said, describing current drug prohibition policies as failed approaches that have cost Latin America nearly one million lives.

Petro pointed to the fentanyl crisis overwhelming US streets as evidence that traditional and prohibitionist anti-narcotics strategies prove ineffective. He contended that the United States now produces its own drugs, particularly cannabis, whilst alcohol causes more harm than many controlled substances.

Back in February, the leftist leader made worldwide headlines by declaring that cocaine "is illegal only because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whiskey". He suggested the flourishing global cocaine trade could be "dismantled" through worldwide legalisation, allowing it to be "sold like wine".