He can’t stop needling Trump, even days before a White House meeting
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
By ANNIE CORREAL and MAX BEARAK
As he prepared for his first face-to-face visit with President Donald Trump, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia had been on his best behavior, focused mainly on combating groups involved in the drug trade — Trump’s stated priority for leaders across Latin America.
But just days before Tuesday’s meeting, he appeared to lapse into an old habit: lobbing verbal mortars at Trump.
In public remarks last week, Petro, an avowed leftist, spoke of “genocide in Gaza,” criticized the mistreatment of migrants in the United States and said that Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, had been “kidnapped” by the United States and should be returned to Venezuela to stand trial.
The comments alarmed his advisers as well as experts, heightening fears that the visit could go less smoothly than Petro’s recent, nearly hourlong call with Trump did. That could have long-lasting ramifications in a region already reeling from Maduro’s capture.
The meeting between the two leaders — arranged after Trump threatened Petro with military action — is meant to de-escalate tensions, diplomats said. It is also meant to address topics such as “the fight against transnational organized crime, especially on the border,” according to Colombia’s foreign ministry.
But that plan could easily veer off course given that both presidents share a common trait: a willingness to speak their minds no matter the consequences.
“In a word, they’re unpredictable,” said Julio Londoño Paredes, a retired Colombian army lieutenant colonel, diplomat and former foreign minister who is part of a group of foreign policy advisers who met with Petro to prepare for the visit.
The two men have said little about their meeting, though on Sunday, before departing for the United States, Petro called for Colombians to take to the streets on the day he meets with Trump. Colombia’s government did not respond to questions for this article, but both Colombian and U.S. officials said the meeting was expected to be private.
The United States and Colombia have been staunch allies for decades and have much to gain from cooperating as U.S. officials try to stabilize Venezuela, Colombia’s neighbor, experts say. Yet Trump has been known to ambush leaders in the Oval Office, and Petro has been known to provoke — and to be easily provoked.
“My concern is that he could be triggered,” Gimena Sánchez, a Colombia specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America, said of Petro. “When he gets triggered he has no filter. He’s capable of saying anything.”
The question is not whether Petro is going to change his “style,” said Juan Carlos Flórez, a Colombian historian and politician, but rather, “is he prepared for that sort of ambush?”
Petro and Trump also have nearly opposing views on the U.S. role in Latin America. Trump wants the United States to exert dominance over the entire Western Hemisphere, while Petro spent some of his formative years as a member of an anti-imperialist urban guerrilla group.
The Colombian leader is nearing the end of his four-year tenure and is limited to one term with elections scheduled for May. Polls suggest a fairly close race between an ally of Petro and a conservative candidate, but with the race still months away, it remains unclear who might gain the upper hand. Some experts also wonder if anti-Petro Republicans in Washington will try to influence the outcome and if Trump will endorse a candidate, as he has elsewhere in Latin America.
Adding to the uncertainty over their meeting, Petro does not speak English, which experts say puts him at a disadvantage with Trump. He also tends to disdain the pomp that Trump relishes, preferring guayaberas and traditional Colombian woolen “mochila” bags to suits and briefcases.
Colombia’s ambassador to the United States, Daniel García-Peña, is charged with crucial details of the visit, including securing Petro’s gift to give to Trump and his punctual arrival, Londoño said. Petro is often hours late, even to important occasions.
Petro’s advisers have tried to instill the importance of “prudence,” Londoño said, adding that Petro had been advised to avoid subjects that could “derail” the conversation. The president is fond of extemporizing on human rights and clean energy, far from Trump’s favorite topics.
Petro has in the past accused Trump himself of committing abuses. In an interview last month with The New York Times, he called U.S. immigration authorities “fascist,” and, asked if he had been told to avoid inflammatory language at the White House, he said, “I have to say what I think.”
Petro’s main interest as president is being seen as an international champion for progressive causes, said Alejandro Gaviria, who served as a minister in Petro’s government and wrote a book about him.
“That’s been his great ambition,” he said. “More than governing Colombia — it’s to be someone whose opinions carry weight on the global stage.”
At the White House, Petro might be torn between that ambition and the need to show restraint to keep himself, and Colombia, out of Trump’s sights. (Trump has accused Petro, among other things, of being a drug trafficker, which experts describe as a baseless claim).
“We will get to see whether he behaves like a president, or an activist,” said María Jimena Duzán, a prominent Colombian investigative journalist.
Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, an international relations expert who specializes in Colombia, said it would be a mistake for Petro to broach any personal matters.
Instead, he said, Petro should focus on how the two countries can work together. Colombia is not a “frontline state” in the fight against fentanyl, like Mexico, Tokatlian said. (Colombia is not known to produce fentanyl).
But Colombia does share a roughly 1,375-mile border with Venezuela, and armed groups like the Colombian-born National Liberation Army, or ELN, move cocaine from Colombia across the border toward Venezuela’s Caribbean ports, he said.
The Trump administration needs Petro’s help to curb that traffic.
Petro, for his part, needs the United States to ensure that Venezuela’s transition from Maduro does not devolve into political infighting or unrest.
“An out-of-control situation in Venezuela would severely affect Colombia — in terms of migrants, trade relations and armed actors,” Tokatlian said. “So Petro could do well to transmit that he is someone willing to help contribute to that stabilization.”