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Colombian President Gustavo Petro.. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Bogotá, Colombia
Colombian President Gustavo Petro escalated an ongoing feud with President Donald Trump at a pre-meeting of the COP30 climate summit yesterday, criticizing his counterpart for his stance on immigration, military action in Gaza and Venezuela, and the environment.
In a speech to some 30 world leaders, the South American president accused Trump of being “against mankind” by not attending the summit and later compared the White House’s immigration policy to “that of the Nazis.”
The Colombian president’s comments are the latest in a nearly year-long feud with Trump, which came to a head last month when the U.S. added Petro and members of his inner circle to a list of sanctioned individuals. The move, which barred the leader from the United States and froze his assets, followed White House allegations that Petro is “an illegal drug dealer,” a claim for which the administration has not provided evidence.
“Today, Mr. Trump is literally against mankind. By not coming here, he proves it,” said Petro, noting the president’s absence at the summit on climate change, which Trump has described as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”
While Petro was not alone in criticizing the White House’s climate skepticism – Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chile’s Gabriel Boric did the same – he proceeded to address other pressure points between himself and Trump.
The White House “continues these anti-immigrant policies, modeled on those of the Nazis and carried out against our peoples in the United States,” the Colombian president said.
He also condemned Washington’s bombing campaign against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, which have killed nearly 70 people since September.
“The same missiles that fall on the children of Gaza are now falling on poor young people who are not drug traffickers, but employees of drug traffickers or sometimes fishermen,” Petro said.
His claim that a U.S. boat strike murdered innocent Colombian fishermen drew Trump’s ire in October and led the White House to add Petro, his wife, son, and right-hand man to the sanctions list.
Not only has the move imposed financial constraints on the Colombian leader, but his official duties abroad have been affected, with multiple airports refusing to refuel his presidential plane due to the sanctions.
“Petro clearly has a bone to pick with Trump. He feels personally offended by Trump and has been saying so,” Sergio Guzmán, director at Colombia Risk Analysis, a security think tank, told the Miami Herald.
The analyst added that, following the sanctions, Petro has little to lose by antagonizing Trump.
But Petro’s behavior may risk harming Colombia – during the spat over the boat bombings, Trump announced an end to all aid to the country, threatening security goals and counter-narcotics efforts.
While Secretary of State Marco Rubio later clarified the aid would continue, the U.S. could still punish Colombia for its president’s actions.
“Trump has made no secret of the fact that he is interested in seeing an ideological shift in Colombia back towards the right,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group. “I do think the U.S. has shown that they will use the media that they have available to send that message very clearly to Colombian voters.”
While Petro may have nothing to lose personally, his collision course with Trump could still complicate vital U.S. assistance to Colombia.
The spat is also affecting the country’s diplomatic relations, with several leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, dropping out of a meeting in Colombia later this week between Latin American and European nations.
“Everybody smells the blood in the water,” Guzmán said.
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Alfie Pannell
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