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US revokes Colombian president's visa after UN visit US revokes Colombian president's visa after UN visit
(about 3 hours later)
'Disobey Trump's order', says Colombia's president outside UN Gustavo Petro told US soldiers to 'disobey Trump's order' at a speech in New York on Friday
The US State Department said on Friday it would revoke the visa of Colombia's President Gustavo Petro. The US has said it will revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro's visa, after he urged US soldiers to disobey his American counterpart Donald Trump during a speech to the UN in New York.
The decision was based on the leftist leader's "incendiary actions" during a pro-Palestinian street protest in New York, the State Department added. The State Department described Petro's remarks at a pro-Palestinian street protest on Friday as "reckless and incendiary".
Petro was already en route to Bogota from New York on Friday night, according to Colombian media cited by Agence France-Presse. The Colombian leader was in the US for the UN General Assembly, where earlier this week he called for a criminal inquiry into the Trump administration's airstrikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean.
Earlier in the week, Petro likened the Trump administration's airstrikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea to an "act of tyranny" in an interview with the BBC. He was already on his way back to Bogota when the US announced it would cancel his visa, Colombian media reports.
On his social media account, Petro shared a video of himself speaking Spanish to a large crowd through a megaphone on Friday. Petro shared a video on social media of him addressing a large crowd through a megaphone in Spanish on Friday.
His translator relayed his remarks urging "nations of the world" to contribute soldiers for an army "larger than that of the United States". He called for the formation of a "world salvation army, whose first task is to liberate Palestine".
"That is why, from here in New York, I ask all soldiers in the United States Army not to point their rifles at humanity," he said. "That is why, from here in New York, I ask all soldiers in the United States Army not to point their rifles at humanity," he said. "Disobey Trump's order! Obey the order of humanity!"
"Disobey Trump's order! Obey the order of humanity!" Petro added. Petro added: "As happened in the First World War, I want the young people, sons and daughters of workers and farmers, of both Israel and the United States, to point their rifles not toward humanity, but toward the tyrants and toward the fascists."
In response, the State Department strongly criticised his action. The US State Department strongly criticised the remarks, saying he had "urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence".
"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. It wrote on social media that the revocation of his visa was "due to his reckless and incendiary actions".
"We will revoke Petro's visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions," it said. Colombia's Interior Minister Armando Benedetti wrote on X on Friday night that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visa should have been annulled rather than Petro's.
Colombia's Interior Minister Armando Benedetti wrote on X on Friday night that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visa should have been revoked rather than Petro's. "But since the empire protects him, it's taking it out on the only president who was capable enough to tell him the truth to his face," he said.
"But since the empire protects him, it's taking it out on the only president who was capable enough to tell him the truth to his face." Relations between Petro - who leads Colombia's first ever left-wing government - and the Trump administration have worsened in recent months.
Petro, whose country is the world's biggest cocaine producer, has said he suspects some of those killed in the US boat strikes were Colombian. The Colombian leader used his speech at the UN to launch an excoriating rebuke of US strikes on boats suspected of being used to transport drugs, arguing they were not about controlling the drug trade but serving a need to use "violence to dominate Colombia and Latin America".
Washington contends the actions are part of a US anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president Washington accuses of running a cartel. He said some of those killed by the strikes may have been from Colombia, which is the world's biggest cocaine producer, and claimed US officials were allied to drug gangs while his government was persuading farmers to not grow coca.
Under Petro - the country's first ever left-wing leader - Colombia has seen worsening ties with the Trump administration. Petro likened the air strikes to an "act of tyranny" in an interview with the BBC.
The US also denied visas for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and 80 Palestinian officials, blocking them from attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week. Washington contends the actions are part of a US anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president it accuses of running a cartel.
The US also denied visas for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and 80 Palestinian officials, blocking them from attending the UN General Assembly, despite world leaders conventionally being permitted to attend the body's headquarters regardless of their relations with the US.