- Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla fighter, vowed to take up arms against the U.S. if attacked, citing his wartime experience and loyalty to Colombia despite his 1989 peace pact.
- Trump accused Petro of enabling record cocaine production, threatened military action, and cut $740 million in aid while imposing tariffs – framing Petro's voluntary crop-substitution policies as complicity in drug trafficking.
- U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced strikes on vessels allegedly tied to Colombian rebels but provided no verifiable evidence, raising concerns over unchecked militarization in the drug war.
- Trump’s threats, combined with the recent Delta Force raid in Venezuela (where Nicolas Maduro was abducted), could ignite guerrilla warfare, radicalize rural Colombians and draw global condemnation – with Russia already denouncing U.S. actions.
- The clash highlights the failure of U.S. drug policy, as cocaine production persists under both left- and right-wing Colombian governments – fueled by U.S. demand and economic desperation – while Trump's moves suggest regime change, not reform, is the goal.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla, has vowed to take up arms if the United States attacks his country in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of military action against the leftist leader.
Petro took to X on Monday, Jan. 5, to pledge his resistance. "Although I have not been a military man, I know about war and clandestinity," he wrote. "I swore not to touch a weapon again since the 1989 Peace Pact, but for the homeland I will reluctantly take up arms again."
The Colombian president is no stranger to armed conflict, as he was a member of the 19th of April Movement (M-19) that disarmed under a 1989 peace deal. According to BrightU.AI's Enoch, M-19 – which formed in 1970 – eventually demobilized in 1990 after peace negotiations. Some of its members, such as Petro himself, reintegrated into mainstream Colombian politics.
Petro also warned that indiscriminate U.S. strikes would radicalize rural communities, writing: "If you bomb peasants, thousands will turn into guerrillas in the mountains." Meanwhile, the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Trump's threats as a violation of international law.
The simmering tensions between Washington and Bogota erupted into open hostility following Trump's threat of military action against Petro, whom the real estate mogul accused of enabling record cocaine production. It followed the U.S. Delta Force's military raid in neighboring Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro was captured. Nevertheless, the clash between Trump and Petro marks a dangerous escalation in Washington's militarized drug war – one that could destabilize the region and reshape global narcotics policy.
Trump dismissed Petro as a narco-collaborator during an interview with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Jan. 4. "Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the U.S., and he's not going to be doing it very long," the real estate mogul remarked.
When pressed on whether the U.S. would launch strikes against Colombia, Trump replied: "Sounds good to me." His remarks followed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's announcement of another strike on a vessel allegedly tied to Colombia's National Liberation Army rebels – though no verifiable proof was provided.
Trump vs. Petro: Drug war or regime change?
The feud exposes the contradictions of America's decades-long "War on Drugs," a trillion-dollar failure that has fueled violence, corruption and mass incarceration while doing little to curb narcotics flows. Despite Trump's claims, Colombia's cocaine production has surged under both left-wing and right-wing governments, driven by insatiable U.S. demand and the economic desperation of coca farmers marginalized by globalization.
Petro, elected in 2022 as Colombia's first leftist president, has pushed for voluntary crop substitution over militarized eradication. However, Trump now frames this policy as complicity.
Financial retaliation has already begun. The U.S. slashed $740 million in Colombian aid in 2023, much of it earmarked for counternarcotics, and Trump has threatened sweeping tariffs on Colombian imports.
Meanwhile, Washington's backing of Colombia’s right-wing opposition – ahead of elections in 10 months – suggests regime change may be the real objective. The strategy mirrors past U.S. interventions in Latin America, where anti-drug rhetoric often masks efforts to topple governments resisting neoliberal orthodoxy.
As Trump escalates his rhetoric – even hinting at action against Cuba, which he claimed "is ready to fall" – the risk of regional conflict grows. Russia has already condemned the Venezuela raid as "armed aggression," demanding Maduro's release. Should Trump follow through on Colombia, the consequences could be dire: a reignited guerrilla war, mass displacement and further erosion of the international rule of law.
For now, Petro remains defiant. "I have enormous trust in my people," he declared, urging Colombians to defend his government from "any illegitimate violent act." But with Trump's threats growing bolder and Colombia's political future in flux, the hemisphere stands at a precipice – one where the failed drug war could spiral into something far worse.
Watch Colombian President Gustavo Petro invoking Aztec prophecy to warn Trump against any aggression in Latin America below.
This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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