Far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro on Monday urged humanity to “remove” President Donald Trump if he does not “change” in an unhinged interview with Univisión.
Petro issued the threat against Trump at the tail end of a two-hour interview with Univisión President Daniel Coronell, who traveled to Bogotá and conversed with Petro about various subjects ranging from Colombia’s strained relations with the United States, his administration’s drug-fighting policies, President Trump’s drug-fighting efforts in Caribbean international waters, and Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, among others.
Coronell interviewed Petro right before the Colombian president met with Chargé d’Affaires John McNamara, who leads the U.S. embassy in the Colombian capital. After the interview, Coronell wrote, “I’m leaving more worried than when I arrived,” in a social media post.
Throughout the interview, Petro levied a barrage of criticisms against President Trump, describing his relationship with Trump as “rude and ignorant” as opposed to the “direct and decent” one he claimed to have had with his predecessor, former U.S. President Joe Biden.
At the end of the interview, Petro expressed his opinion on negotiations and the future of bilateral relations between both countries. The Colombian president claimed that President Trump’s persistence in power represents an “obstacle to democracy, science, and truth.”
“Humanity has a first offramp, and it is to change Trump. In various ways. Perhaps the easiest way may be through Trump himself. If not,” Petro said, and snapped his fingers, “get rid of Trump.”
Petro doubled down on his threats against President Trump in a social media post issued moments after the interview aired, in which he wrote, “There are two paths with Trump: either Trump changes, or Trump is removed.”
Hours later, Petro responded to a message published by Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL) on social media denouncing Petro for threatening President Trump. The Colombian president claimed that he “did not threaten Trump, I only said that Trump should change his heart, from defending policies of death in the world, such as the genocide in Palestine, to policies of life.”
“If there is no such change, then the people of the United States themselves will change Trump, because we cannot go down the path of collective suicide,” Petro wrote in response.
Petro’s two-hour-long interview with Univisión follows rising diplomatic tensions between the United States and Colombia after Petro single-handedly strained the over 200-year-long friendly relations between both countries during his tenure.
Petro has significantly and unilaterally escalated tensions with President Trump in recent weeks after he accused Trump of being an “accomplice” in the “genocide” in Gaza, publicly called the U.S. military to disobey Trump as commander-in-chief, and demanded that Trump is prosecuted for his alleged role in the “genocide.”
On Sunday, Petro accused Trump of being “rude and ignorant” to Colombia after Trump accused Petro of being an “illegal drug leader” and announced that he would suspend all U.S. payments and subsidies to Colombia, citing the surge in drug production in the country under Petro’s administration.
Asked by Coronell about the possibility of making concessions in prospective talks with the United States to resolve the developing impasse, Petro answered, “I’m not going to concede, I’m going to demand. Colombia has already conceded everything, it doesn’t have to concede any more.”
“Mr. Tariff [Trump] decided to impose tariffs on everyone. [Colombia] was punished less than others, and should we bow our heads because we got off lightly? No, he didn’t have to impose anything because there was a free trade agreement between Colombia and the U.S.” Petro said.
“Since they couldn’t care less about us, Trump said ‘Colombia is out of control.’ Of course it’s out of control: out of his control,” He added at another point in the interview. “He’s not king in Colombia; we don’t accept kings here. He can talk to me face to face, between true Republicans, just as I spoke with Biden four times. But give us orders? No, sir.”
The Colombian oresident referred to the ongoing U.S. military presence in Caribbean international waters to combat drug cartels in the region and curb the flow of U.S.-bound drugs. Petro once again accused the United States of allegedly using the drug-fighting efforts as an “excuse” to invade neighboring Venezuela and take over its oil resources. Petro also insisted that none of the men that have so far died during the U.S. precision strikes against drug-laden vessels should have been killed.
“That’s what made Trump angry when I said that he is preparing an invasion of Venezuela, not because of drug trafficking, which is a lie,” Petro said.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here
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