The United States said on Friday it would revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro after he addressed a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York and urged US soldiers to disobey orders from President Donald Trump.
“We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” the US State Department posted on X, referring to his public remarks outside the UN headquarters in Manhattan.
Speaking to a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters, Petro urged the creation of a global armed force with the aim of liberating Palestinians. “This force has to be bigger than that of the United States,” he said in Spanish, according to Reuters.
He also directed his comments at US soldiers: “From here, from New York, 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,” Petro said, as relayed by a translator, Reuters reported.
Colombian media reported that Petro was already returning to Bogota from New York on Friday night.
Tensions over Gaza and drug policy
Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, has openly criticised Trump over the war in Gaza. In a UN General Assembly speech on Tuesday, he called the US leader “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and demanded “criminal proceedings” over missile strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the UN on Friday, condemned countries recognising Palestinian statehood, accusing them of sending a message that “murdering Jews pays off,” reported Reuters. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was denied a US visa to attend the assembly, sparking debate over US obligations under the 1947 UN headquarters agreement.
Rights experts have said Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began after an October 2023 Hamas attack, has resulted in over 65,000 Palestinian deaths and the displacement of the enclave’s population, as quoted by Reuters. Israel has denied allegations of genocide, saying its operations are in self-defence.
Strained US-Colombia relations
Relations between Washington and Bogota have been tense under Petro. Shortly after he took office in 2022, he initially refused to accept military flights carrying deportees under Trump’s immigration crackdown, citing concerns over the treatment of Colombian citizens. Both countries later threatened tariffs and suspended visa appointments, prompting Petro to reverse course.
Earlier this month, the US placed Colombia on a list of countries it says have failed to meet counter-narcotics agreements. Petro, whose country is the world’s largest cocaine producer, has claimed some victims of US Caribbean boat strikes were Colombian, while Washington maintains the operations target Venezuelan-led drug trafficking.
Colombia’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti criticised the visa revocation, reported BBC, tweeting that Netanyahu’s visa should have been revoked instead, adding: “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.”
The US also denied visas for Abbas and 80 Palestinian officials, preventing them from attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
