US Revokes Colombian President Petro’s Visa After ‘Reckless’ Comments Urging Soldiers to Disobey Trump
NEW YORK, USA – The United States has announced it will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, following what the State Department condemned as “reckless and incendiary” remarks where he urged American soldiers to disobey orders from former President Donald Trump.
The diplomatic rift occurred while President Petro was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The incident underscores the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the US and Colombia’s first left-wing government.
The controversy stems from a video Petro shared from a pro-Palestinian street protest on Friday. Addressing a crowd through a megaphone in Spanish, the Colombian leader called for the formation of a “world salvation army, whose first task is to liberate Palestine.”
In his comments, he directly appealed to US military personnel. “That is why, from here in New York, I ask all soldiers in the United States Army not to point their rifles at humanity,” Petro said. “Disobey Trump’s order! Obey the order of humanity!”
He further elaborated, “As happened in the First World War, I want the young people, sons and daughters of workers and farmers, of both Israel and the United States, to point their rifles not toward humanity, but toward the tyrants and toward the fascists.”
The US State Department responded swiftly and harshly. In a statement, it said Petro had “urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.” Announcing the visa revocation on social media, the department attributed the decision to “his reckless and incendiary actions.”
According to Colombian media, Petro was already en route back to Bogotá when the US made the announcement.
The friction did not begin at the protest. Earlier in the week, during his address to the UNGA, Petro launched a excoriating critique of US airstrikes on boats suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean. He called for a criminal inquiry into the Trump administration’s actions, which he likened to an “act of tyranny” in an interview with the BBC, arguing they were less about controlling drugs and more about a need to use “violence to dominate Colombia and Latin America.”
The US contends the strikes are part of legitimate anti-narcotics operations.
The visa revocation prompted a defiant response from within Petro’s government. Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti wrote on social media platform X that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visa should have been annulled instead. “But since the empire protects him, it’s taking it out on the only president who was capable enough to tell him the truth to his face,” he stated.
This incident follows a recent precedent where the US denied visas to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 officials, blocking their attendance at the UNGA. The move against a sitting head of state, however, marks a significant escalation in tensions between the long-standing allies.
