By Ebi Kesiena
The United States has announced plans to revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa following his participation in a pro-Palestinian rally in New York, where he urged American soldiers to defy President Donald Trump’s orders.
“We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” the State Department said in a post on X.
Speaking outside the United Nations headquarters, Petro told demonstrators that the world needed an armed force dedicated to liberating Palestinians, declaring: “This force has to be bigger than that of the United States.” He went further, calling on U.S. troops to disobey Trump. “Obey the orders of humanity,” he said.
It was not immediately clear whether Petro remained in New York, and neither his office nor Colombia’s foreign ministry issued a response to requests for comment.
Tensions at the UN Over Gaza
Petro’s participation in the rally comes amid fierce debate at the U.N. over Israel’s war in Gaza. Earlier in the week, he told the General Assembly that Trump was “complicit in genocide” and demanded criminal proceedings over U.S. missile strikes in the Caribbean.
His remarks were delivered just before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Western countries recognising Palestinian statehood, accusing them of rewarding violence.
The Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that killed around 1,200 people and saw hundreds taken hostage, has left more than 65,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials. Rights experts have described Israel’s campaign as genocide, an accusation Israel rejects, insisting it is acting in self-defence.
Petro joins a growing list of pro-Palestinian leaders clashing with Washington. The U.S. also refused a visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week, prompting his office to accuse Washington of violating the U.N. headquarters agreement of 1947.
A Strained Partnership
Relations between Washington and Bogotá have been uneasy since Trump’s return to office in January. Petro initially rejected U.S. military flights deporting Colombians, prompting both countries to threaten tariffs before he eventually backed down.
More recently, Colombia was placed on a U.S. list of countries allegedly failing to meet counter-narcotics obligations. Petro, who came to power in 2022 promising peace agreements with armed groups, has since turned to military operations in coca-growing regions, though with limited success.
