US Says It Will Revoke Colombian President’s Visa Over Pro-Palestinian Rally Remarks

The United States announced on Friday that it would revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York and urged American soldiers to defy President Donald Trump’s orders.

“We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” the State Department posted on X.

Addressing protesters outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, Petro called for the creation of a global armed force to liberate Palestinians. “This force has to be bigger than that of the United States,” he declared.

He further urged US troops to disobey Trump, saying in Spanish: “That’s why from here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity.”

The move against Petro comes as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices, even as France, Britain, Australia, and Canada have recognized a Palestinian state decisions that have drawn anger from Israel and its ally, the US.

Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, has been a staunch critic of Israel’s war in Gaza. In his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, he accused Trump of being “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and demanded “criminal proceedings” over US missile strikes on suspected drug-running boats in the Caribbean.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also addressing the assembly on Friday, denounced Western governments for endorsing Palestinian statehood, saying they were sending the message that “murdering Jews pays off.”

Israel launched its offensive on Gaza after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Since then, more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed and the enclave’s entire population displaced, according to Gaza health authorities. Rights experts have described the campaign as genocide, a charge Israel rejects, insisting it is acting in self-defence.

Faridah Abdulkadiri

Source: Arise