US revokes Colombian president's visa during UN visit

The US State Department announced on Friday that it would revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro over what it described as his “incendiary actions” during a pro-Palestinian rally in New York.

According to Colombian media reports cited by AFP, Petro was already on his way back to Bogotá from New York when the decision was made.

Earlier in the week, Petro criticized US airstrikes against suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, calling them an “act of tyranny” in a BBC interview. On Friday, he posted a video on social media showing him addressing a large crowd in Spanish with a megaphone, urging world nations to form an army “larger than that of the United States.”

He went further, calling on US soldiers to “disobey Trump’s orders” and instead “obey the order of humanity.” The State Department condemned his remarks, saying Petro incited violence and urged US troops to defy their government.

“Colombian President @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and encouraged US soldiers to disobey orders. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” the department posted on X.

Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti reacted strongly, suggesting that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visa should have been revoked instead, accusing Washington of protecting him while punishing Petro for “speaking the truth.”

Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, has often clashed with Washington. He has suggested that Colombians may have been among those killed in the US anti-drug strikes near Venezuela — operations the US insists target cartels linked to President Nicolás Maduro.

Meanwhile, the US also denied visas to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other Palestinian officials, preventing them from attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week.