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President Trump spoke on the cellphone Wednesday with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, after months of tensions between the 2 leaders boiled over in latest days, with Mr. Trump calling Colombia a “sick man” and suggesting navy motion within the nation “sounds good to me.”
Mr. Trump stated on Fact Social he “appreciated [Petro’s] name and tone,” including that the 2 leaders are planning to fulfill on the White Home in some unspecified time in the future. The U.S. president stated Petro known as “to elucidate the scenario of medication and different disagreements that we have now had.”
Colombia’s embassy within the U.S. stated in a assertion the nation “welcomes the constructive tone of the change” and “stays dedicated to open dialogue.”
Relations between the U.S. and Colombia have been tense for months, with the Trump administration accusing the Colombian authorities of failing to include a spike in cocaine manufacturing. In October of final 12 months, Mr. Trump known as Petro an “unlawful drug chief,” and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent introduced sanctions on Petro and his household, claiming he “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to cease this exercise.”
Petro, in the meantime, has been a staunch critic of the U.S.’s navy buildup close to Latin America. He denounced the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats in a September speech earlier than the United Nations, and days later, he stated throughout a New York protest rally that members of the U.S. navy ought to “disobey the orders of Trump.” The State Division revoked Petro’s visa in response, calling his actions “reckless and incendiary.”
The tensions have ratcheted up because the U.S. navy’s in a single day seize of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, which Petro denounced as an act of “aggression.”
A day after the operation, Mr. Trump expressed ire towards Petro, telling reporters: “Colombia could be very sick, too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and promoting it to the USA, and he isn’t going to be doing it very lengthy.”
Requested whether or not meaning there might be some form of U.S. operation in Colombia, Mr. Trump responded, “It sounds good to me.”
Petro — a former member of a guerilla group and Colombia’s first leftist chief in a long time — responded forcefully early Monday morning. He wrote on X that he “swore by no means to the touch a weapon once more,” however “for the homeland I’d take up arms that I do not need.”
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