US revokes visa for Colombia’s president after he urges American soldiers to disobey Trump

WASHINGTON AP Tensions between the United States and Colombia have escalated with the State Department announcing it was revoking a visa for Gustavo Petro president of the Latin American country after he participated in a New York protest where he called on American soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump s orders The department revealed on social media that we will revoke Petro s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions Petro was visiting for the annual U N General Assembly During a nearby protest Friday over the war in Gaza he mentioned I ask all the soldiers of the United States army don t point your rifles against humanity and disobey the orders of Trump It was unclear if the decision forced Petro who returned to Colombia on Saturday to leave the U S earlier than expected The State Department did not answer questions about whether the revocation would affect future visits Petro Colombia s first leftist president used a post on X addressed to Trump to say that international law grants me immunity to go to the U N and that there should be no reprisals for my free opinion because I am a free person Petro who has a history of speaking off the cuff in meandering ideologically charged speeches also declared on social media that I don t care about the punishment because he is also a European citizen That means he does not need a visa to excursion to the U S Colombia broke diplomatic ties with Israel last year over the Israel-Hamas war Petro has repeatedly described Israel s siege of Gaza as genocide Colombia has long been a top U S ally in Latin America cooperating closely on the fight against drug trafficking But there have been repeated clashes between Petro a former rebel group member and Trump s Republican administration Earlier this year Petro resisted deportation flights using American military aircraft leading to a diplomatic predicament as Trump threatened to retaliate with higher tariffs and visa suspensions The U S is Colombia s largest trading partner and Petro s administration relented saying it would accept the planes The U S accused Colombia earlier this month of failing to cooperate with anti-narcotics efforts Although the designation did not include sanctions that would have slashed U S assistance to the country it was a sharp rebuke that frustrated Petro He commented his country had lost the lives of policemen soldiers and regular citizens trying to stop cocaine from reaching the United States Source