Tensions between the United States and Colombia have escalated with the State Department announcing it was revoking a visa for Gustavo Petro, president of the Latin American country, after he participated in a New York protest where he called on American soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump’s orders.
Petro was visiting for the annual U.N. General Assembly. During a nearby protest Friday over the war in Gaza, he said “I ask all the soldiers of the United States’ army, don’t point your rifles against humanity” and “disobey the orders of Trump.”
Petro returned to Colombia on Saturday as intended, in accordance with a Sept. 18 decree on the delegation of powers during his absence. He said on X that he found out about his visa status upon his arrival.
The State Department did not answer questions about whether the revocation would affect future visits.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, used a post on X addressed to Trump to say that “international law grants me immunity to go to the U.N. and that there should be no reprisals for my free opinion, because I am a free person.”
Petro, who has a history of speaking off the cuff in meandering, ideologically charged speeches, also said on social media that “I don’t care” about the punishment because he is also a European citizen. That means he does not need a visa to travel to the U.S.
Colombia broke diplomatic ties with Israel last year over the Israel-Hamas war. Petro has repeatedly described Israel’s siege of Gaza as genocide.
Colombia has long been a top U.S. ally in Latin America, cooperating closely on the fight against drug trafficking. But there have been repeated clashes between Petro, a former rebel group member, and Trump’s Republican administration.
In his General Assembly speech Tuesday, Petro called for a criminal investigation of Trump and other officials involved in this month’s deadly strikes on boats in the Caribbean that the White House has said were transporting drugs. The White House has offered scant information about how the operations came together or the legal authorities under which they were carried out.
Earlier this year, Petro resisted deportation flights using American military aircraft, leading to a diplomatic crisis as Trump threatened to retaliate with higher tariffs and visa suspensions. The U.S. is Colombia’s largest trading partner, and Petro’s government relented, saying it would accept the planes.
The U.S. accused Colombia earlier this month of failing to cooperate with anti-narcotics efforts. Although the designation did not include sanctions that would have slashed U.S. assistance to the country, it was a sharp rebuke that frustrated Petro.
He said his country had lost the lives of “policemen, soldiers and regular citizens, trying to stop cocaine” from reaching the United States. (AP)
