New York/Washington, September 27, 2025: The United States announced it will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York on Friday and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders from President Donald Trump.
“We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” the State Department said in a post on X.
Addressing demonstrators outside U.N. headquarters in Manhattan, Petro called for the creation of a global armed force to “liberate Palestinians,” declaring that it must be “bigger than that of the United States.” Speaking in Spanish, he told the crowd: “From here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity.”
Reuters said it could not immediately confirm Petro’s whereabouts, while Colombia’s presidency and foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The decision marks a sharp escalation in Washington’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices, even as U.S. allies such as France, Britain, Australia, and Canada have moved to recognize Palestinian statehood — steps that have angered both Israel and the Trump administration.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president and an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, had already drawn Washington’s ire earlier this week. In his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, he accused Trump of being “complicit in genocide” in Gaza and called for criminal proceedings over U.S. missile strikes on suspected drug-running boats in the Caribbean.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his own U.N. address on Friday, blasted Western nations that recognized Palestinian statehood, saying they were sending a message that “murdering Jews pays off.”
Israel’s assault on Gaza began after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack that killed around 1,200 people and left 251 taken hostage. Since then, Gaza’s health authorities say more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed and the entire enclave’s population displaced. Multiple human rights experts have described the campaign as genocide, an accusation Israel rejects, insisting the war is self-defense.
The visa move against Petro comes just a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was barred from traveling to New York for the U.N. gathering. Washington said his visa was denied on security and foreign policy grounds, though Abbas’ office argued the move violated the 1947 U.N. Headquarters Agreement, which obliges the U.S. to allow foreign diplomats entry to attend U.N. proceedings.
The visa revocation is the latest flashpoint in already tense U.S.-Colombia ties. Relations soured earlier this year when Petro refused to allow U.S. military flights carrying deportees to land in Colombia as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Although Petro reversed his decision after threats of tariffs and the suspension of U.S. visa appointments for Colombians, mistrust persisted.
Earlier this month, Washington placed Colombia on a list of countries accused of failing to meet counter-narcotics obligations, with Trump directly blaming Colombia’s political leadership.
Petro, who came to power in 2022, initially sought peace agreements with armed groups but later shifted to a more hardline strategy of military and social intervention in coca-growing regions. The policy has delivered limited results and remains a central point of contention with Washington.
