Revocation of Petro's visa deepens nine-month crisis in Colombia-U.S. relations.

Bogotá.- Colombia's relationship with the United States, historically based on solid commercial exchange and close military and security cooperation, has been shaken this year by disagreements caused by the positions of the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, which had a breaking point this Friday with the withdrawal of his visa by the State Department. The crisis began last January after Petro's decision to not allow the entry of two planes with Colombians deported from the U.S. as long as they did not receive "dignified" treatment and has continued throughout the year. This situation causes concern in Colombia because the United States is its main trading partner and the two countries have had a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in effect since May 2012. In 2024, the exchange of goods and services amounted to 53.3 billion dollars, resulting from U.S. exports of 28.3 billion dollars and imports from Colombia of 25 billion dollars, for a surplus of 3.3 billion dollars in favor of the North American country, according to data from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

The following is a timeline of the current crisis in the bilateral relationship:

January 26: Following Petro's decision not to allow the entry of two planes with deportees that were already in flight, the U.S. President, Donald Trump, who had only been in office for six days, orders the imposition of 25% tariffs on all Colombian products. Petro responds with an equal tariff on imports of US products and Trump counterattacks with visa restrictions for Petro's government and his party, the Historic Pact, as well as the suspension of consular services, including the issuance of visas at the US Embassy in Bogota. The intervention of diplomats from both countries contained the crisis, but the previously fluid bilateral relationship was damaged after this incident.

Drug Trafficking and Alleged Conspiracies

- March 27: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visits Colombia and meets with Petro to discuss migration, security, and drug control issues, a meeting that proceeds normally despite the differences between the two governments.

- April 5: Noem claims in an interview with Newsmax that during the meeting with Petro in Bogotá, the Colombian president defended the transnational criminal gang Tren de Aragua, considered by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. According to Noem, Petro stated that "members of the Tren de Aragua are misinterpreted, that they were actually just people who needed more love and understanding" and pointed out, according to the secretary, that some "members of the cartel were his friends." The Colombian Foreign Ministry rejects Noem's statements "as incorrect." - May 6: Petro accuses U.S. Representative Mario Díaz-Balart, a Republican from Florida, of leading meetings as part of a conspiracy to remove him from office.

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- July 3: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urgently calls the head of Washington's diplomatic mission in Colombia, John McNamara, for consultations, following Petro's "unfounded" accusations about alleged U.S. support for a plot to remove him from power. Petro responds by calling his ambassador in Washington, Daniel García-Peña, for consultations. A week later, the diplomats return to their posts.

U.S. Military Attacks in the Caribbean and Palestine

- September 3: Petro, critical of the United States military deployment in Caribbean waters near Venezuela, apparently to curb drug trafficking, calls the first attack against a vessel allegedly transporting drugs and in which eleven alleged members of the Tren de Aragua died, "murder."

- September 15: The U.S. government removes Colombia from the list of countries that comply with their obligations in the fight against drug trafficking, commonly called 'certification', but decides to maintain assistance, close to 400 million dollars, considering it "vital to the national interests of the United States".

- September 17: Petro calls the U.S. 'decertification' an "injustice" and an "insult" "against the country that has shed the most blood so that the society of the United States and Europe do not consume so much cocaine." - September 23: In a heated speech to the UN General Assembly, Petro asserts that the war on drugs is actually a strategy of the powerful who "need violence to dominate Colombia and Latin America." He also states that it is a "lie" that Tren de Aragua is a terrorist organization, as classified by the United States and other countries, and says that "a criminal process must be opened" against those responsible for the deaths of alleged drug traffickers attacked by U.S. military personnel in Caribbean waters, which "includes the highest-ranking official who gave the order, President Trump". Finally, and after denouncing Israel's "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, it calls to "unite armies and weapons" to "liberate Palestine".

- September 26: Petro participates in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York where, according to the State Department, "he addressed American soldiers (...) urging them to disobey orders and incite violence", and "for these reckless and provocative actions", decides to revoke his visa.

- September 27: Upon his return to the country, Petro responds to the United States that the revocation of his visa "breaks all the rules of immunity on which the functioning of the United Nations and its General Assembly is based" and therefore considers that the UN headquarters can no longer be in New York.