The U.S. State Department announced late Friday that it had revoked Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa. The move comes after Petro was seen telling American soldiers that they don’t have to follow President Donald Trump’s orders.
“Earlier today, Colombian president (Petro) stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the agency said in a post to X. “We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary action.”
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Petro, who was in New York City for the United Nations conference, spoke at a Gaza war protest nearby. He asked U.S. soldiers not to “point your rifles against humanity” and to “disobey the orders of Trump.”
Petro had already left the U.S. for Colombia by the time officials announced the revocation of his visa. He said on Saturday that he has the right to attend a United Nations event and express his opinions.
“International law is the wisdom of humanity and it protects me,” Petro said in a post to X. “Genocide is a crime against humanity and humanity must respond, judge, and punish.”
He accused Trump of violating the founding principles of the U.N. and proposed a “more democratic place” than the U.S. to host the U.N. headquarters, namely Doha. The city is the capital of Qatar, a constitutional monarchy.
UN speech
The revocation of Petro’s visa also follows a fiery speech before the U.N., where he compared Trump to Adolph Hitler and called him “an accomplice to genocide.”
Colombia cut diplomatic ties with Israel in 2024 over its retaliation against Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack that has brought condemnation from the international community.
“The old societies of Europe are collapsing,” Petro said Tuesday, “and the United States is applauding its new Hitler.”
Past tensions
The populist Republican Trump and former Marxist guerrilla group member Petro have butted heads before the most recent incident. Trump threatened to increase tariffs after Petro refused to accept deportation flights.
The pressure of higher costs from his country’s largest trade partner led Petro to eventually relent. State Department officials have also accused Colombia of failing to do its part in fighting the global drug trade.
