Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks at the U.N. General Assembly 80th session General Debate at United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday in New York City. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Colombia’s Foreign Ministry accused the United States of violating international law after Washington revoked the visa of President Gustavo Petro.
The U.S. government announced the move after Petro urged U.S. troops to disobey orders during a pro-Palestinian rally in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week.
Colombia’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said a Trump administration resolution was used as a “diplomatic weapon,” which it argued violated the spirit of the 1945 United Nations Charter.
That charter guarantees “on-site participation, with the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, without regard to borders.”
The State Department announced on X on Friday that “Earlier today, Colombian President @petrogustavo stood on a New York street and urged U.S. troops to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
The Colombian president shared a video showing him speaking in Spanish through a megaphone at a demonstration in New York, calling on “the nations of the world” to send soldiers to build an army “larger than that of the United States” to defend Palestinians, and he urged U.S. troops “not to point their rifles against humanity.”
After his visa had been revoked, and upon returning to Colombia, Petro wrote on X: “The fact that the Palestinian Authority was not allowed entry and that my visa was taken away for asking the U.S. and Israeli armies not to support a genocide, which is a crime against all humanity, shows that the U.S. government no longer complies with international law.”
Later, Petro suggested moving the United Nations headquarters from New York to Doha, the capital of Qatar.
“It is essential to seek a completely neutral host country that, regardless of its bilateral relations or political and ideological positions, would allow the organization itself to issue authorization for entry into the host state in accordance with international law,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
During his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Petro accused Trump of being an “accomplice to genocide” in Gaza and urged the United Nations to enforce its decisions on the conflict.
He also called for a “criminal proceeding” against the U.S. president after military strikes destroyed boats in the Caribbean that Washington said were carrying drug traffickers and narcotics.
On Sept. 16, the Trump administration announced the “decertification” of Colombia, placing the country on a list of nations that had “demonstrably failed” to meet commitments in the fight against drug trafficking. However, it granted a waiver to maintain cooperation and avoid sanctions.
At the U.N., Petro described the decision as political interference by Washington, accusing it of trying to impose a “puppet president” in Colombia and linking the decertification to his positions on Gaza and the environment.
