President Donald Trump said he held a productive phone call with President Gustavo Petro and invited the Colombian leader to a summit in the US. Following the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump threatened several other countries, including Colombia.
“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. I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. “Arrangements are being made between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Foreign Minister of Colombia. The meeting will take place in the White House in Washington, DC.”
After the phone call, Petro told demonstrators at a rally in Colombia that he planned to attend the summit. “If we don’t speak, there is war. Colombia’s history has taught us that,” Petro said at the rally. “And what happened is that we talked and re-established communication for the first time. I talked about two things: Venezuela and the issue of drug trafficking. I gave him our numbers of what we are doing to fight drugs.”
The leaders did not set a date for the White House summit.
The phone call came days after the US bombed Venezuela and captured President Maduro. On Monday, Trump said, Petro should “watch his ass.” He was later asked if the US could replicate its attack on Venezuela in Colombia, and the President responded, “It sounds good to me.”
Petro has been critical of Trump’s military action in Latin America and Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.
