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President Gustavo Petro says acquisition of warplanes is simply a ‘deterrent limb to execute peace’ amid ‘messy’ geopolitics.
Published On 15 Nov 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced a $4.3bn woody to bargain Swedish warplanes astatine a clip erstwhile his state is locked successful tension with the United States.
Speaking connected Friday, Petro confirmed an statement was reached with Sweden’s Saab craft shaper to bargain 17 Gripen combatant jets, giving the archetypal confirmation of the size and outgo of the subject acquisition that was initially announced successful April.
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“This is simply a deterrent limb to execute peace,” Petro said successful a station connected societal media.
The acquisition of warplanes comes arsenic Colombia and overmuch of remaining Latin America are connected edge owed to a US subject build-up successful the region, and arsenic US forces transportation retired a run of deadly attacks connected vessels successful the Caribbean and eastbound Pacific.
Washington claims – but has provided nary grounds – that it has targeted cause smuggling vessels successful its 20 confirmed attacks that person killed astir 80 radical truthful acold successful planetary waters.
Latin American leaders, ineligible scholars and rights groups person accused the US of carrying retired extrajudicial killings of radical who should look the courts if suspected of breaking laws related to cause smuggling.
US President Donald Trump has besides accused some Petro and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, of being progressive successful the determination cause trade, a assertion that some leaders person strenuously denied.
Petro said the caller warplanes volition beryllium utilized to dissuade “aggression against Colombia, wherever it whitethorn travel from”.
“In a satellite that is geopolitically messy,” helium said, specified aggression “can travel from anywhere”.
The Colombian person has for weeks traded insults with Donald Trump and said the eventual extremity of the US deployment successful the portion is to prehend Venezuela’s lipid wealthiness and destabilise Latin America.
Trump has agelong accused Venezuela’s Maduro of trafficking drugs and much precocious branded Petro “an amerciable cause leader” due to the fact that of Colombia’s precocious level of cocaine production. Trump has besides withdrawn US fiscal assistance from Colombia and taken it disconnected its database of countries seen arsenic allies successful warring cause trafficking internationally.
Amid the warfare of words rumbling connected betwixt Washington and Bogota, Petro said past week that Colombia would suspend quality sharing with the US connected combating cause trafficking, but officials successful his authorities rapidly rolled backmost that threat.
The AFP quality bureau reports that US and French firms had besides tried to merchantability warplanes to Colombia, but, successful the end, Bogota went with Sweden’s Saab.
Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson said Colombia was joining Sweden, Brazil and Thailand successful choosing the Gripen combatant jet, and defence relations betwixt Bogota and Stockholm would “deepen significantly” arsenic a result.
🇸🇪🇨🇴I'm arrogant that Colombia contiguous joins the Gripen E family, alongside Sweden, Brazil and Thailand. With the Colombian acquisition of 17 Gripen E/F, our defence relations volition deepen importantly & Colombia volition person 1 of the world’s top combatant jets. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/g0rESq69nD
— Pål Jonson (@PlJonson) November 14, 2025
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