Colombian President Gustavo Petro has hit back at US President Donald Trump’s accusations, warning that any attempt at military intervention could provoke widespread resistance across his country
Trump had threatened Colombia with possible military action following a US strike on Venezuela to remove President Nicolás Maduro, calling Colombia “very sick” and accusing Petro of running a cocaine operation. “He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories and is not going to be doing it very long,” Trump said on Air Force One.
Petro, a former leftist guerrilla who demobilised in the 1990s, strongly rejected the claims, writing on X: “I am not illegitimate and I am not a narco. Trump speaks without knowledge. Stop slandering me.”
He also warned that any attack on Colombia would have serious consequences. “If they bomb, the campesinos will become thousands of guerrillas in the mountains. And if they detain the president, which a large part of the country loves and respects, they will unleash the ‘jaguar’ of the people,” Petro said.
Petro, who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla group, later participated in drafting Colombia’s 1991 constitution, served as a lawmaker, and became mayor of Bogotá before being elected president. He added, “I swore not to touch a weapon again … but for the homeland I will take up arms again.”
Colombia’s defence minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced that the president’s security detail had been reinforced following Trump’s remarks. While some right-wing opposition figures have aligned with Trump, leaders across Colombia’s political spectrum have condemned the idea of a US military strike.
Relations between the US and Colombia have already been strained, with the US revoking Petro’s visa in September and imposing financial sanctions on him, his wife, and key aides in October. The US has also increased its military presence in the Caribbean and conducted strikes on suspected drug boats near Venezuela and off Colombia’s Pacific coast.
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