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Gustavo Petro

Gustavo Petro
The latest news and top stories on Gustavo Petro, Colombia's President since 2022. He previously served as Mayor of Bogotá and as a Senator.
Relatives of victims embrace in front of a bus hit by an explosive device in Cajibio, Colombia on Saturday. Photo: AP
Americas and the Caribbean

Explosive device kills 20 and injures 36 on bus in Colombia

At least 26 such incidents have taken place in the last two days, amid a wave of violence linked to drug-trafficking.

Aviation accidents

At least 66 dead as Colombia military plane crashes after take-off

Americas and the Caribbean

Colombia’s president says he escaped assassination attempt while in helicopter

Donald Trump

Trump and Colombia’s Petro appear to bury hatchet after months of tensions

US president calls Gustavo Petro ‘terrific’ after their first face-to-face encounter, following months of trading barbs.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. Photo: Colombia Presidency via dpa
Donald Trump

Trump says Colombia’s Petro to visit US, in U-turn from threats to diplomacy

Just days ago, Trump had issued a warning to the South American leader for criticising the US attack that removed Venezuela’s Maduro.

US-Venezuela conflict

Trump invites Colombia’s president to White House after threat of military strike

Invitation comes days after Trump accused Colombia’s Gustavo Petro of ‘making cocaine’ and warning of US intervention.

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Americas and the Caribbean

Maduro open to talks with US on drugs and oil, but silent on CIA strike

Venezuela’s leader sidesteps questions about a reported US land attack while offering to talk ‘seriously’ about cooperation.

US Air Force F-35A and F-35B fighter jets in Puerto Rico. Photo: Reuters
Americas and the Caribbean

CIA behind drone strike on ‘big facility’ in Venezuela: sources

Sources divulge details of a US strike mentioned by Trump, as Colombia’s president says US bombed a suspected cocaine factory.

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Donald Trump

Trump says any country trafficking drugs into US could be attacked

In response to the threat, Colombia’s Petro says his nation destroys drug labs ‘without missiles’ and warns Trump not to ‘awake the Jaguar’.

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China-Latin America relations

Xi Jinping pledges support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

Chinese president urges respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty, warns against foreign interference as US ramps up regional military activity.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in September 2023. Maduro received the full support of Xi in a letter celebrating the Venezuelan leader’s birthday at the weekend. Photo: AFP
Venezuela

Several international airlines cancel flights to Venezuela after US warning

Flights cancelled following an FAA warning of a ‘potential risk’ amid a major buildup of American forces in the region.

A US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet being launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Caribbean Sea on November 18. Photo: US Navy via Reuters
China-Latin America relations

Colombia pushes for talks – to include China – over US military action in region

Petro steps up rhetoric as biggest US aircraft carrier backs an anti-drug operation near Venezuela; the latest strikes face legal questions.

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Americas and the Caribbean

7 children killed in air strike against Colombia rebel group, officials say

The minors were forcibly recruited and used as human shields by the Farc-EMC group, ombudswoman Iris Marin says.

Americas and the Caribbean

US strikes on alleged drug boats in eastern Pacific kill 6

US defence secretary says two boats were destroyed as calls mounted for investigations into the US strikes.

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Video accompanying US Defence Secretary Peter Hegseth’s post on Monday showed a strike on one boat sitting stationary in the water. Photo: US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth’s X account via AFP
Americas and the Caribbean

Rio raids, Venezuela crisis threaten to overshadow Brazil’s UN climate summit

Deadly police operations at home and regional fears of US military intervention abroad divert President Lula’s focus from one of his signature global issues.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visiting a settlement in Belem ahead of the Cop30 UN Climate Summit. Photo: AP
Americas and the Caribbean

Trump says not considering strikes within Venezuela, despite earlier threats

The US president had previously said ‘the land is going to be next’, after deadly attacks on alleged drug-carrying boats in the area.

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Americas and the Caribbean

US sanctions Colombia president over drugs, amid escalating row with Trump

Gustavo Petro has accused the US president of carrying out ‘extrajudicial executions’ by striking alleged drug-trafficking vessels.

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Donald Trump

‘We’re just going to kill them’: Trump vows to escalate drug war to land targets

US president’s stark warning of moving beyond sea strikes comes amid a massive US military build-up in the Caribbean and tensions with Venezuela.

Men in Caracas hold weapons during a rally of the Bolivarian National Militia in support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, amid rising tensions with the US. Photo: Reuters
United States

Colombia’s Petro accuses Trump of ‘extrajudicial executions’ in boat strikes

Fuelling a spat with Trump, Colombia’s president said the US military’s anti-drug campaign, which has killed dozens, violates international law.

Americas and the Caribbean

US widens campaign on suspected drug boats with first lethal strikes in Pacific

Two new strikes, apparently carried out in international waters, come amid a war of words between Donald Trump and Colombia’s president.

Americas and the Caribbean

Air strikes and insults: Trump’s feud with Colombia threatens key alliance

With Colombia recalling its ambassador, the Trump-Petro feud marks a new low in relations between Bogota and Washington.

US Air Force personnel load missiles onto a MQ-9 Reaper drone at Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Photo: Reuters
Americas and the Caribbean

Colombia recalls ambassador to US as Trump-Petro feud intensifies

Trump’s rhetoric and tariff threats mark a new low in US-Colombia relations, which the US leader alleges are complicit in the drug trade.

Colombian President, Gustavo Petro (left), has called US President Trump’s comments about him being an “illegal drug leader” offensive. Photo: AFP
Colombia

Trump threatens Colombia with tariffs and slashes aid, calls Petro a ‘drug leader’

Trump warned that the US would ‘close up’ Colombia’s drug operations, just as Petro condemned a US strike as ‘murder’.

United States

US strike in Caribbean kills Colombian fisherman, stoking sovereignty row

President Gustavo Petro demanded answers from Washington over the September attack that left Alejandro Carranza dead.

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Americas and the Caribbean

US strikes on boats in Caribbean fuel speculation over missing fishermen

Caribbean tensions rise as Venezuela accuses the US of killing innocent people in anti-drug operations.

Venezuela’s UN ambassador Samuel Moncada holds up the cover story of local Trinidadian newspaper Guardian on the deaths. Photo: Reuters
Americas and the Caribbean

US strike on boat in Caribbean may have killed Colombians, Petro says

Colombian president writes that a ‘new front in the war has opened’ in the Caribbean, prompting the White House to demand a public retraction.

A vessel burns in this still image taken from a video released on September 15, 2025. Photo: US President Donald Trump’s TRUTH Social account via AFP
Israel-Gaza war

Israel blocks all Gaza flotilla ships, vows to deport activists

Organisers said the interception was ‘illegal’, claiming the ships were in international waters while carrying vital aid to the enclave.

Colombia

Colombia’s Petro fires own Beijing embassy team for ‘sabotaging’ China outreach

Purge follows Bogota’s pivot to China and President Petro’s open tensions with Donald Trump over immigration, Gaza.

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