Petro Says Colombia Will Keep Channels Open With US Despite Trump’s Insults And Threats

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his government will maintain open lines of communication and practical cooperation with the United States despite public insults and threats from President Donald Trump.

Speaking to Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo in Bogotá in an interview broadcast on Friday, Petro said his administration wants to preserve collaboration with Washington on combating narcotics after a phone call between the two leaders on Wednesday. Petro described the call as "a means of communication that did not exist before," and said it helped cool tensions that had escalated earlier in the week.

Petro, Colombia's first left‑wing president, contrasted the new direct contact with the previous practice of exchanging information through informal routes he said were "mediated by political ideology and my opposition."

"I have been careful — despite the insults, the threats and so on — to maintain cooperation on drug trafficking between Colombia and the United States," Petro said.

The interview came amid a spike in regional tensions following reports and allegations of a US operation involving Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro. These reports remain contested and have not been independently verified. In the course of the dispute, President Trump publicly accused Petro of operating cocaine mills and called him "a sick man." Asked whether he would authorize a military operation against Petro, Trump reportedly replied, "Sounds good to me."

Petro responded by saying he would defend Colombia and that he was prepared to "take up arms" for his homeland if necessary. After the Wednesday call, rhetoric between the two leaders cooled, though analysts warned that the episode reflects deeper geopolitical aims by the Trump administration to assert US influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Relations between Washington and Bogotá had already been strained. Petro has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, referring to them in strong terms. In September, the US revoked Petro's visa after he spoke at a pro‑Palestine march during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and the Trump administration later imposed sanctions on the Colombian president. Petro is term‑limited and is scheduled to leave office following a presidential election in May.

Petro was among the first world leaders to publicly condemn what he called an abduction of Maduro, calling any such raid an "attack on the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America." In the Al Jazeera interview he warned that Venezuela — which shares a border with Colombia — could slide into violence in a post‑Maduro scenario.

He proposed a political solution to prevent chaos: a shared government formed through dialogue among Venezuela’s political forces and a roadmap toward free elections. Petro added that he had spoken with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, who he said appeared worried about the country’s future and was facing attacks and accusations that could further divide political forces.

Context Note: Several dramatic claims circulating in the region — including allegations of a US abduction of President Maduro — remain disputed and have not been independently corroborated. This article reflects Petro’s remarks and public exchanges between leaders while noting where claims are unverified.