Thursday, February 19, 2026

Trump and Petro meet at the White House

The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, met with his American counterpart Donald Trump. The greeting between the leaders took place this Tuesday in the East Room of the White House, on the eve of a private meeting.
Later, the officials went to the Oval Office, where they held an expanded meeting with the participation of the delegations. On the Colombian side, among others, the chancellor, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, participated, while on the American side, the vice president, J.D. Vance, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, were present.

Months of tensions

The bilateral meeting has been proposed by both Washington and Bogotá in terms of an opportunity to smooth out rough edges and rebuild bilateral ties, deteriorated after months of cross-accusations between both leaders, the decertification of the South American country in the fight against drug trafficking, the withdrawal of the US visa and the imposition of sanctions on the Colombian president, and strong criticism from the latter to the US bombings against small boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, labeled without evidence as "narco-boats". At the height of the situation, Trump labeled without evidence his counterpart as a leader of the international drug trade, while Petro accused the U.S. of resorting to a falsification comparable to the non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, to militarily attack Venezuela, depose its Government and thus seize its oil.   Likewise, the Colombian president urged the region to "emancipate" from the US orbit after the US bombings on Greater Caracas on January 3. This was followed by threats from Trump to undertake a similar operation in Colombia. However, the waters receded four days later, when the first telephone exchange between the two took place and the announcement of Petro's official visit to Washington was made. 

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