US revokes Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa revoked for urging American soldiers to ‘disobey orders’
Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa is revoked by the US after urging American soldiers to disobey orders during a pro-Palestinian protest in New York amid UNGA tensions.
The US Department of State said on Friday (US local time) that it will be revoking the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro over his actions of inciting violence and urging American soldiers to disobey orders.
What did the US State Department say?
The State Department condemned Petro’s actions, stating on X:
“Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro's visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
The announcement was made as Petro was en route to Bogotá from New York on Friday night, according to Colombian media cited by Agence France-Presse.
What did Gustavo Petro say during NYC protest?
During the pro-Palestinian demonstration, Petro addressed a large crowd in Spanish through a megaphone. His translator relayed his statements to the public:
“That is why, from here in New York, I ask all soldiers in the United States Army not to point their rifles at humanity. Disobey Trump's order! Obey the order of humanity!”
Petro also called on “nations of the world” to contribute soldiers to an army “larger than that of the United States.”
Earlier in the week, Petro had compared the Trump administration’s airstrikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea to an “act of tyranny” in an interview with the BBC. Petro suggested that some of those killed in the strikes were Colombian nationals.
How has Colombia reacted?
Colombia’s Interior Minister, Armando Benedetti, criticised the US decision on X, suggesting that Netanyahu’s visa should have been revoked instead: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.”
Under Petro, Colombia—the world’s largest cocaine producer—has experienced strained relations with the Trump administration. The controversy over the visa revocation adds to an already tense diplomatic environment.
Petro urges ‘criminal trial’ against Trump
Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s president, addressed the UN general assembly on Tuesday to call for Donald Trump to face “criminal proceedings” over the US strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean.
Petro said unarmed “poor young people” died in the strikes that Washington said were part of a US anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president Washington accuses of running a cartel.
More than a dozen people are known to have been killed in strikes on at least three boats in attacks UN experts have described as “extrajudicial execution”.
Swatting away concerns the killings are unlawful, the US president vowed at the same forum earlier on Tuesday to obliterate drug smugglers.
“To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” he told the assembly.
How does this relate to the UNGA?
Petro’s protest coincided with Netanyahu’s UNGA address, highlighting geopolitical tensions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In addition to revoking Petro’s visa, the US also denied visas for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and 80 Palestinian officials, preventing their attendance at the General Assembly in New York.
US visa denials for other leaders
In addition to revoking Petro’s visa, the US also denied visas for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and 80 Palestinian officials, preventing their attendance at the General Assembly in New York.