New York: The United States (US) announced on Saturday, September 27, that it would revoke the visa of Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro, citing his “incendiary actions” during a pro-Palestinian protest in New York.
“Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the State Department said in a post on X.
“We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” it said.
In response, Petro confirmed on X that he had discovered he no longer held a US visa.
He noted that attending the Tolimense gathering for democracy in Ibagué did not require one and accused the move of serving “the interests of the mafias seeking to divide the US and Colombia.” He criticised the US for violating the immunity rules that protect presidents attending the UN General Assembly and described the revocation as a disregard for international law.
Petro also shared a video addressing demonstrators with a megaphone, calling for continued opposition to what he described as a genocide unfolding in Gaza. Speaking in Spanish, he urged: “It has to be bigger than the United States. That’s why from here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the US army not to point their rifles at humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity.”
Colombia’s Interior Minister, Armando Benedetti, condemned Washington’s decision, describing it as politically motivated. In a post on X, he defended Petro as one of the few leaders to denounce the genocide against Palestine at the UN and accused the US of shielding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting that it was Netanyahu, not Petro, whose visa should be revoked..
The comments came during Petro’s visit to New York for the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, which concluded on Saturday. Earlier in the week, Petro had addressed the Assembly, criticising US President Donald Trump for being “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and calling for “criminal proceedings” over US air strikes on Caribbean vessels accused of drug trafficking.
