Washington, DC, January 8
US President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro held their first phone conversation following a recent war of words, at a time of growing strain between the United States and several Latin American countries. The exchange took place days after Trump accused the Colombian leader of being "sick" and involved in cocaine trafficking.
Trump said the two leaders discussed counter-narcotics policy and other areas of disagreement, and agreed to hold an in-person meeting in the future. He confirmed the call in a post on his social media platform, TruthSocial.
"It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had," Trump wrote on Wednesday.
"I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future," he added.
Separately, the Colombian government also confirmed that Petro held a 35-minute phone conversation with Trump, describing it as "a good and positive call," according to a report by The Hill.
The outreach followed heightened tensions after recent US strikes on Venezuela, after which Trump issued warnings to several countries in the region about possible US intervention. Colombia was among those mentioned, with Trump on Sunday referring to Petro as a "sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he's not going to be doing it very long," The Hill reported.
The rhetoric extended further when Trump was asked by NewsNation's Libbey Dean whether he intended to launch a military operation against Colombia, to which he responded, "it sounds good to me."
Trump has previously made threats and remarks targeting the Colombian president. Last month, he warned that Petro "better watch his a--."
Against this backdrop, Petro called on Colombians to defend "national sovereignty" and warned against any US intervention following Saturday's strikes.
"If you bomb peasants, thousands of guerrillas will return to the mountains," Petro said, according to The City Paper Bogota. "And if you arrest the president whom a good part of my people want and respect, you will unleash the popular jaguar."
As tensions escalated, Petro ordered the deployment of 30,000 Colombian soldiers along the country's border with Venezuela on Sunday.
Trump has also issued warnings to other countries in the region, including Mexico and Cuba. He has threatened to send the US military after cartel leaders in Mexico and suggested that Cuba's government is "ready to fall" without Venezuela, The Hill reported.
- ANI
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