Colombian President Gustavo Petro (AP)
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday he was prepared to “take up arms” after US President Donald Trump threatened possible military action against the South American country.Trump warned Petro to “watch his ass” and described him as “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.” The two leaders have exchanged sharp remarks for months.
When asked directly whether the United States would carry out a military operation against Colombia, Trump replied, “It sounds good to me.”Trump’s comments followed a US operation in Venezuela days earlier, in which President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and transported to New York to face federal charges.Responding to the US President’s threats, Petro, Colombia’s first leftist leader and a former member of the M-19 guerrilla group issued a statement on X.“I swore not to touch a weapon again… but for the homeland I will take up arms again,” said Petro.After the operation, Trump had accused Petro, without providing evidence, of involvement in drug trafficking. Washington imposed financial sanctions on Petro and his family and removed Colombia from the list of countries certified as allies in the US war on drugs. In a lengthy message on X, Petro defended Colombia’s anti-narcotics strategy while warning against the dangers of excessive military force. “If you bomb even one of these groups without sufficient intelligence, you will kill many children. If you bomb peasants, thousands will turn into guerrillas in the mountains. And if you detain the president, whom a good part of my people love and respect, you will unleash the popular jaguar,” he wrote.Petro has been a vocal critic of the growing US military presence in the Caribbean. The deployment began with the bombing of alleged drug boats, later expanded to the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers, and culminated in Saturday’s raid on Caracas that led to Maduro’s detention.He also condemned the US operation in Venezuela, calling it an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America that could trigger a humanitarian crisis.The Trump administration maintains close ties with Colombia’s right-wing opposition, which is hoping to secure victories in legislative and presidential elections later this year.
