The President of Colombia visits America after Trump’s threats

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Colombian President Gustavo Petro will visit the White House next month, expressing his optimism about relations.

A few days ago, Trump threatened the Colombian president in the wake of the military operation that toppled his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, but it appears that Sayed El Abyad changed his position after he spoke by phone with Petro on Wednesday.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “I look forward to holding a meeting with Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, at the White House during the first week of February.”

He added: “I am confident that things will go well for Colombia and the United States, but the entry of cocaine and other types of drugs into the United States must be stopped.”

In October, against the backdrop of his accusation of not cooperating with Washington in the fight against drugs, the United States imposed sanctions on Petro, the first leftist president of Colombia, which has long been an ally of Washington.
Petro, who leaves office this year and cannot run for a new term, was among the leaders most critical of Trump, who responded angrily.

Shortly after Trump returned to the White House, his administration briefly suspended issuing visas to Colombians after Petro denounced the deportations of immigrants from the United States.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not hide his annoyance with Petro, describing him as “crazy.”

Trump said on Saturday that Petro should “watch out” after the Colombian president criticized the US operation to arrest Maduro.

But on Friday, Petro called on acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez to cooperate with Colombia to combat drug smuggling operations across the borders of the two countries.

He said on “X”: “I invited the current Venezuelan president to move jointly with us on this matter,” calling on her to help “defeat” drug trafficking gangs “by uniting the ranks of our two countries.”

This comes after he agreed during his phone call with Trump on Wednesday to “act jointly” against cocaine smuggling gangs active on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.

The sudden change in Trump’s position on Petro is reminiscent of his relationship with leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after the latter welcomed him when they met at the United Nations in September.