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In an interview with Al Jazeera, Gustavo Petro called for a “shared government through dialogue” and elections in Venezuela.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has stressed the importance of having open lines of communication with the United States, despite President Donald Trump’s recent threat of military action against the South American country.
In an interview with Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo from Colombia’s capital Bogotá broadcast on Friday, Mr. Petro struck a soft tone after days of escalating rhetoric, saying the government was trying to maintain cooperation on counter-drugs with Washington.
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His comments came after a phone call with President Trump on Wednesday, which Petro called “a means of communication that never existed before.”
Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, said that until now information between the two governments had been passed through unofficial channels “through political ideologies and my opponents.”
“Despite the insults and threats, I have been careful to maintain cooperation on drug trafficking between Colombia and the United States,” Petro said.
us threat
Just hours after U.S. forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, President Trump directed his threat of military action toward Colombia.
President Trump called Petro a “sick man” and accused him, without evidence, of running a cocaine factory.
Asked on Sunday whether he would approve military operations against Petro, Trump said: “I think that’s a good thing.”
In response, Peter stated that he would “take up arms” for his country and promised to protect it.
Temperatures cooled following Wednesday’s phone call between the two leaders, but observers primarily see Trump’s threat as a potential next step in the White House’s stated goal of establishing American “preeminence” in the Western Hemisphere.
However, the feud between the Trump administration and Petro predates the attack on Venezuela.
Colombia’s president has been a vocal critic of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, which is backed by the United States.
In September, the US government revoked Petro’s US visa after he spoke at a pro-Palestinian march outside the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Weeks later, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Colombia’s president, who has term limits and is scheduled to step down after presidential elections in May.
“Shared government through dialogue”
Petro was one of the first world leaders to condemn Maduro’s abduction, calling the U.S. attack “an attack on the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America.”
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Petro warned that Venezuela, which shares a border with his country, could descend into violence in the post-Maduro era. He said, “It’s going to be a disaster.”
“To that extent, what I have proposed is a shared government through a series of steps towards dialogue and elections between all political forces in Venezuela,” he said.
Petro added that he spoke with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez and sensed that she was concerned about the country’s future.
“She too faces attacks,” the Colombian president said. “Some have accused her of betrayal, but it is being constructed as a narrative that divides forces that were part of the Maduro regime.”
