Far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro pledged his support for Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro on Sunday after the United States doubled its bounty on Maduro to $50 million.
Petro ordered the Colombian Armed Forces to treat Colombians and Venezuelans as “the same people” against a purported “U.S. military intervention” in the neighboring country. Petro has not presented any evidence that the U.S. has any military intervention plans in Venezuela at press time.
“I publicly convey my order, as commander of the Colombian Armed Forces. Colombia and Venezuela are the same people, the same flag, the same history,” Petro wrote on his official Twitter account on Sunday.
“Any military operation that does not have the approval of our sister countries is an act of aggression against Latin America and the Caribbean,” Petro declared. “It is a fundamental contradiction of our principle of freedom. Liberty or death, [Venezuelan founding father Simón] Bolívar cried, and the people rose up.”
While Simón Bolívar did use the phrase “liberty or death,” it was predated by the better-known variation “give me liberty or give me death” by American revolutionary war figure Patrick Henry.
Petro issued his orders to the Colombian Armed Forces hours after the left-wing New York Times published a report stating that President Donald Trump secretly signed an order authorizing the use of military force against “certain Latin American drug cartels.” Petro’s orders also came days after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the United States doubled its reward for information that can lead to Maduro’s arrest and/or conviction from $25 to $50 million.
Maduro stands accused by U.S. courts of being a leading member of the Cartel of the Suns, an intercontinental cocaine trafficking operation run by high-ranking members of the Venezuelan military and some leading figures of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) that seeks to “flood” the United States with cocaine to harm its people. The United States designated the Cartel of the Suns as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity in July.
Minutes before Petro publicly issued his orders to the Colombian Armed Forces, the far-left president shared a video released by the Maduro regime in which Javier José Marcano, who leads both the Venezuelan Presidential Honor Guard and the socialist regime’s Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM), reaffirmed the military’s “absolute loyalty” to Maduro and rejected the United States’ drug trafficking accusations against the dictator.
Petro accompanied the video with a caption that read, “The army that remains in what was once Gran Colombia will be one that can proudly raise the banner of life, of the fundamental values of humanity, heirs to the freedom sworn by Bolívar.”
Gran Colombia, mentioned by Petro in his message, was a short-lived nation founded in 1819 and dissolved in 1831 that encompassed the territories of present day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador, as well as small portions of northern Peru, Brazil, and the Essequibo region. In April, Petro publicly called to “revive” Gran Colombia but failed to explain how he would achieve such a goal.
DGCIM, whose officials appear in the video alongside members of the Bolivarian Armed Forces, has been identified by the United Nations and other international institutions as one of the Maduro regime’s most repressive agencies, responsible for a litany of human rights violations and crimes against humanity against dissidents, including extreme acts such as torture and sexual violence.
On Saturday, Petro — who has repeatedly and fiercely defended the use of cocaine — published a separate rant in which he expressed his opinion on President Donald Trump’s anti-drug trafficking policy “based on the information I have, which is not exhaustive.”
Petro claimed that he agreed with President Trump’s policy and asserted that his government “has coordinated and will continue to coordinate with any government that is truly committed to this fight, while respecting the independence of governments.”
“With regards to Venezuela, I have received support from Maduro and [Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López] to defeat the drug trafficking groups on the border with that country. The support has been overwhelming and must continue,” Petro’s message read. “I do not believe that the solution to the political problems of Venezuelans lies in putting money into killing or capturing political leaders.”
“Venezuela needs open dialogue between all its forces to hold free elections. Neither imprisoning political leaders, nor disqualifying them, nor persecuting pro-government leaders with the threat of prison or death will allow for a peaceful solution,” he continued.
Padrino López, who Petro mentioned, stands accused by the United States of being one of the leading members of the Cartel of the Suns and is actively wanted by U.S. authorities on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine onboard an aircraft registered in the United States. The United States is offering a $15 million bounty for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Vladimir Padrino López.
Petro’s messages in support of Maduro drew widespread condemnation from Colombian politicians. The conservative Democratic Center party released a statement on social media rejecting Petro’s statements and accusing the far-left president of seeking to confuse public opinion.
The party said that Maduro is a “dictator who does not represent the brave people of Venezuela, but is their tyrant and usurper” and stressed that Maduro caused a serious humanitarian crisis and turned Venezuela, the richest country on the continent, into the second poorest.
“Do not be irresponsible by attempting to exploit the Colombian Armed Forces, committed to defending the Constitution and the rule of law, to defend a tyrant accused of drug trafficking and leader of the Cartel of the Suns, for whom the United States is offering a reward of US$50 million,” the statement read.
“Make no mistake, Mr. Gustavo Petro: you are not above the Constitution and the law. Ordering the Colombian Armed Forces to take up arms to defend the dictator of Venezuela is treason,” the statement continued. “Instead of trying to drag Colombia into a senseless war, Mr. President, you should tell Colombians about your secret commitment to the dictator Maduro that could compromise Colombia’s sovereignty and interests.”
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed in June that cocaine production, seizures, and use reached all-time highs in 2023, with most of the surge in cocaine production happening in Colombia. UNODC registered a 53-percent increase in potential cocaine production in the country in 2023.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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