The US has stated it will revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro's visa after he urged US soldiers to disobey his American counterpart Donald Trump during remarks at a rally in New York.
The State Department described Petro's comments at a pro-Palestinian street protest on Friday as reckless and incendiary.
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.
He was already on his way back to Bogota when the US announced it would cancel his visa, according to Colombian media reports.
Petro shared a video on social media of him addressing a large crowd through a megaphone in Spanish at the protest.
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 declared. Disobey Trump's order! Obey the order of humanity!
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.
The US State Department strongly criticized the remarks, indicating that Petro had urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. It reiterated the decision to revoke his visa due to these reckless and incendiary actions.
Colombia's Interior Minister Armando Benedetti expressed his outrage on X, suggesting instead that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visa should have been annulled, defending Petro as the only leader brave enough to challenge the Israeli PM directly.
Relations between Petro and the Trump administration have worsened in recent months, particularly over US involvement in Colombian and Latin American affairs.
At the UN, Petro urged a critique of US military actions, arguing they do not address drug trade control but rather serve as a means of dominance over Colombia. He claimed many individuals killed in those strikes could be Colombian citizens, while US officials allegedly align with drug gangs against efforts to curb coca cultivation among local farmers.
Petro described US airstrikes as an act of tyranny in a subsequent BBC interview.
Washington maintains these military actions are essential to its ongoing anti-drug operations off the Venezuelan coast, countering accusations of a cartel-led regime.
Additionally, the US previously denied visa requests for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and dozens of Palestinian officials, usually allowed to attend the UN General Assembly regardless of diplomatic relations.
