The United States will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro after what officials said were “reckless and incendiary actions” during a street protest in New York City, the State Department said on Friday.
The Colombian leader was seen speaking through a megaphone and addressing a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters earlier on Friday.
This came days after his fiery speech at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he outrightly criticised US foreign policy and demanded legal action against Donald Trump.
The US State Department posted on Friday evening, “We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.” It said that the Colombian president “stood on an NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.”
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The protests in New York have gripped the streets over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s presence at the UNGA on Friday. Thousands of protesters marched through Midtown Manhattan, many of them calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and denouncing Netanyahu as a “war criminal”.
The state department said the Colombian president was seen telling protesters via a translator to “Disobey Trump’s orders — obey humanity’s orders.” He said, “I knelt as a Christian before the graves of thousands of American soldiers who died in the fields of Europe fighting against Hitler.”
During his United Nations General Assembly address on Tuesday, President Petro issued a scathing critique of Western powers, accused the US of perpetuating global inequality, and described the war in Gaza as “genocide”.
He said, “Trump… allows missiles to be launched against young children, women, and the elderly in Gaza, making himself complicit in genocide.”
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