Cliff Notes
- The US plans to revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa following his comments urging US troops to disobey Donald Trump‘s orders at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York.
- Petro’s remarks included a call for a global armed force prioritising the liberation of Palestinians, which the US State Department labelled as “reckless and incendiary.”
- Relations between Colombia and the US have soured, particularly after accusations against Petro for failing to uphold counter-narcotics agreements as tensions regarding drug trafficking escalate.
Gustavo Petro: US revokes Colombian president’s visa after he urges troops to disobey Donald Trump’s orders | US News
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The US has said it will cancel the visa of the President of Colombia after he urged US troops to disobey Donald Trump’s orders.
Speaking at a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the UN in New York on Friday, Gustavo Petro called for a global armed force with the priority of freeing Palestinians.
Mr Petro, who appeared at the rally alongside Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, said in Spanish that the force “has to be bigger than that of the United States.
“I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity.”
The US state department said in a post on X that it will “revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions”.
Mr Petro, a prominent critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, which the US has backed, used his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to accuse Mr Trump of being “complicit in genocide” there and demanding “criminal proceedings” over US missile attacks on suspected drug-running boats in the Caribbean.
It comes as strikes on drug traffickers inside Venezuela could start within weeks, according to NBC, Sky’s US partner.
Quoting US officials familiar with the planning, NBC said Mr Trump has not approved anything yet, but is contemplating drone strikes on trafficking groups’ members, leadership, and laboratories because his administration feels Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal drugs out of his country.
In recent weeks, the US military has attacked at least three boats from Venezuela allegedly carrying narco-traffickers and drugs that could threaten Americans, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social, without showing evidence that drugs were on all the vessels.
At least eight US ships with more than 4,000 personnel have been sent to the Caribbean, along with F-35 fighter jets.
Washington is offering a $50m (£37m) reward for the arrest of Mr Maduro, whom it accuses of working with cartels sending cocaine, fentanyl and gang members to the US.
Venezuela isn’t a significant cocaine producer, but is thought to be a major departure point for flights carrying the drug elsewhere, while most of the illegal fentanyl transported to the US comes from Mexico.
Colombia is Washington’s main ally in the fight against drug trafficking, but relations between them have soured this year.
Soon after Mr Trump returned to the White House in January, President Petro refused to allow military flights carrying deportees as part of his US counterpart’s immigration crackdown to land in Colombia.
He agreed to accept the migrants after both countries threatened tariffs on each other and after the US cancelled visa appointments for Colombians.
Earlier this month, the US named Colombia on a list of countries that it said had failed to uphold their counter-narcotics agreements, blaming Colombia’s political leadership.