BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Saturday dismissed the U.S. decision to revoke his visa and accused Washington of violating international law over his criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The U.S. said on Friday it would revoke Petro’s visa after he took to New York’s streets on Friday to join a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump’s orders.
“I no longer have a visa to travel to the United States. I don’t care. I don’t need a visa… because I’m not only a Colombian citizen but a European citizen, and I truly consider myself a free person in the world,” Petro said on social media.
“Revoking it for denouncing genocide shows the U.S. no longer respects international law,” he added on a post on X.
Israel has repeatedly denied genocide charges over its actions in Gaza and says it is acting in self defense.
Petro, addressing a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters outside U.N. headquarters in Manhattan, called for a global armed force with the priority to liberate Palestinians, adding “this force has to be bigger than that of the United States.”
Petro is not the first Colombian president to have his U.S. visa revoked. In 1996, then-President Ernesto Samper’s visa was canceled over a political scandal involving allegations that the Cali drug cartel had funded his presidential campaign.
Relations between Bogota and Washington have frayed since Trump returned to office. Earlier this year, Petro blocked deportation flights from the U.S., prompting threats of tariffs and sanctions. The two sides later reached a deal.
In July, both countries recalled their ambassadors after Petro accused U.S. officials of plotting a coup, a claim Washington called baseless.
Petro cut diplomatic ties with Israel in 2024 and banned Colombian coal exports to the country.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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