WASHINGTON D.C. — The relationship between the United States and Colombia has reached a new low following the U.S. State Department's announcement on Friday, September 26th, that it is revoking the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The drastic measure was taken after Petro participated in a pro-Palestinian street demonstration in New York City, where he was attending the UN General Assembly, and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders.

The State Department confirmed the decision in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro's visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions."

Call to Disobey 

The controversy stems from Petro's remarks to a crowd outside the UN headquarters. According to Reuters, the Colombian leader, the country's first leftist president who took office in August 2022, called out to the masses in support of the Palestinian cause. "I ask all the soldiers of the United States' army, don't point your rifles against humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump and obey the orders of humanity!" Petro was quoted as saying, with the speech also reported by Bloomberg to be at a demonstration condemning U.S. and Israeli positions on the conflict in Gaza.

Escalating Diplomatic Tensions 

The visa revocation is the latest in a series of escalating diplomatic clashes between President Petro's administration and the Trump White House. While Petro has maintained friendly relations with the U.S. as the world's largest economy and a long-time partner, his ideologically aligned stance with regional left-wing governments has led to friction with the current U.S. administration.

The recent diplomatic strain follows the Trump administration's decision to decertify Colombia as a "major non-cooperation ally" in the fight against drugs. This move is expected to halt approximately $500 million annually (about 700 billion KRW) in U.S. counter-narcotics funding to Colombia.

Colombia’s Presidential Office and Foreign Ministry have not immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the visa cancellation, which marks a significant diplomatic rebuke. Petro’s tenure has been characterized by both an effort to maintain cooperative ties with the U.S. and a commitment to his progressive base, but this incident highlights the increasing difficulty of balancing those priorities amid political turbulence.

The revocation of President Petro's visa is expected to strain relations even further between the two historically allied nations, injecting uncertainty into the future of their cooperation on key issues like counter-narcotics efforts and regional security.

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