Petro rebukes Trump after suggestion of possible U.S. military action

President Gustavo Petro of Colombia sharply rebuked President Donald Trump after Mr. Trump suggested that U.S. military forces in the Caribbean could be used against Colombia. Mr. Petro posted on X that "If you detain a president whom much of my people want and respect, you will unleash the people’s jaguar." He wrote that "every Colombian soldier has now received this order: any commander of the security forces who prefers the U.S.

flag over the Colombian flag will be immediately removed from the institution," and that he had "asked the people to defend the president against any illegitimate violent act." The exchange followed Mr. Trump’s remark on Air Force One that using U.S. forces against Colombia "sounds good to me," and Mr.

Trump’s accusation that Mr. Petro was involved in cocaine production. The comments came two days after Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, was seized by U.S. forces and brought to New York City to face federal charges, the report said. Colombia’s defense minister, Pedro Sánchez, declined to comment directly on Mr.

Trump’s remarks in an interview with The New York Times but said he had remained in regular communication with the United States on counternarcotics and that the two governments continue to have "a very close relationship." He said any possible U.S. military operation against Colombia had not come up in his recent conversations with the ranking U.S.

Key Topics

World, Gustavo Petro, Donald Trump, Colombia, Nicolás Maduro, Pedro Sánchez