Colombian President Gustavo Petro has issued a stark warning to the BBC, stating he perceives a ‘real threat’ of potential US military intervention against his nation. This alarming assessment follows former President Donald Trump’s recent threats of military action against Colombia and his characterization of Petro as a ‘sick man’ involved in cocaine trafficking—an accusation Petro vehemently denies.
The escalating diplomatic crisis reveals profoundly divergent worldviews. Petro accuses the United States of operating as an ’empire’ that treats other nations as subordinates rather than sovereign equals. He delivered particularly sharp criticism of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), comparing their operations to ‘Nazi brigades’ and citing recent agent-involved shootings of US citizens as evidence of recklessness.
Trump’s administration has significantly expanded ICE operations, reporting the deportation of approximately 605,000 individuals between January 20 and December 10, 2025, alongside 1.9 million ‘voluntary self-deportations’ through an aggressive public awareness campaign.
The relationship between the two leaders has been marked by public confrontations, including Trump’s instruction for Petro to ‘watch his ass’ and Petro’s condemnation of US military actions in Venezuela as motivated by ‘oil and coal’ interests. Despite a recent phone conversation that Trump described as a ‘Great Honour’ on his Truth Social platform, Petro indicates relations remain tense, with the call lasting nearly an hour and covering drug trafficking and regional politics.
Petro emphasized Colombia’s preference for diplomatic resolution but noted the country’s historical resilience against larger military forces, referencing Colombia’s challenging terrain and popular mobilization capabilities. He also revealed communications with Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez and expressed concerns about intelligence agency operations in the region.
As the world’s largest cocaine producer with significant natural resources including oil, gold, and emeralds, Colombia finds itself at the center of US drug policy enforcement. Petro defends his ‘total peace’ strategy of negotiating with armed groups while maintaining military options, citing reduced homicide rates and slowing coca cultivation growth in southern Colombia as evidence of progress.