US to revoke Colombian president's visa over comments at pro-Palestinian gathering

The United States said it would revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro's visa aft helium took to New York's streets connected Friday successful a pro-Palestinian objection and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump's orders.

"We volition revoke Petro's visa owed to his reckless and incendiary actions," the State Department posted connected X.

Petro, addressing a assemblage of pro-Palestinian protesters extracurricular the U.N. office successful Manhattan, called for a planetary equipped unit with the precedence to liberate Palestinians, adding, "This unit has to beryllium bigger than that of the United States."

"That's wherefore from here, from New York, I inquire each the soldiers of the service of the United States not to constituent their guns astatine people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity," Petro said successful Spanish.

Reuters could not instantly corroborate whether Petro was inactive successful New York.

His bureau and Colombia's overseas ministry did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

The Trump medication has been cracking down connected pro-Palestinian voices portion countries including France, Britain, Australia and Canada person recognized a Palestinian authorities - moves that person angered Israel and its state the U.S.

Petro, Colombia's archetypal leftist president and a vocal hostile of Israel's warfare successful Gaza, deed retired astatine Trump successful his code to the U.N. General Assembly connected Tuesday, saying the U.S. person was "complicit successful genocide" successful Gaza and calling for "criminal proceedings" implicit U.S. rocket attacks connected suspected drug-running boats successful Caribbean waters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the assembly connected Friday, denounced Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood, accusing them of sending the connection that "murdering Jews pays off."

Israel began its battle connected Gaza aft an onslaught led by the Palestinian militant radical Hamas connected October 7, 2023, killed astir 1,200 people, with 251 taken hostage.

Since then, Israel's subject run successful Gaza has killed much than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza wellness authorities, and displaced the full colonisation of the constrictive enclave.

Multiple rights experts accidental this amounts to genocide, a complaint angrily denied by Israel, which says the warfare is successful self-defense.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the U.N. by video connected Thursday aft the Trump medication said it would not springiness him a visa to question to New York.

Abbas' bureau said astatine the clip that his visa prohibition violated the 1947 U.N. office agreement, nether which the U.S. is mostly required to let entree for overseas diplomats to the U.N. However, Washington has said it tin contradict visas for security, extremism and overseas argumentation reasons.

The United States is Colombia's main trading spouse and its top state successful the combat against cause trafficking, but U.S.-Colombia relations got disconnected to a atrocious commencement soon aft Trump returned to bureau successful January, erstwhile Petro refused to judge subject flights carrying deportees successful Trump's migration crackdown.

Petro said his country's citizens were being treated similar criminals. But helium rapidly reversed course, agreeing to judge the migrants, aft some countries threatened tariffs connected each different and aft the U.S. canceled visa appointments for Colombians.

Trump this period enactment Colombia connected a database of countries that Washington says person failed to uphold their counter-narcotics agreements, blaming Colombia's governmental leadership.

Petro came to bureau successful 2022 promising agreements with equipped groups but pivoted past year, pledging to tame coca-growing regions with monolithic societal and subject intervention. The strategy has brought small success.