‘Real threat’ of US military action against Colombia, president tells BBC

Colombian President Gustavo Petro told the BBC he believed there was now a “real threat” of US military action against Colombia.

Petro said the United States treats other nations as part of an American “empire.” This comes after Trump threatened Colombia with military action. He said the United States was at risk of moving from “dominating the world” to “isolating itself from the world.”

He also accused US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of acting like “Nazi squads”. Trump has significantly expanded ICE operations in what the administration sees as a crackdown on crime and immigrants who entered the United States illegally.

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

After US strikes on Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, US President Donald Trump said a military operation targeting Colombia “looks good.”

Trump also repeatedly told Petro to “watch his ass,” remarks Petro strongly condemned.

Trump and Petro spoke by phone Wednesday evening, after which Trump said he would meet his Colombian counterpart at the White House in “the near future”. Writing on his Truth Social platform Wednesday evening after the call, Trump described his conversation with Petro as a “great honor.” A Colombian official said at the time that the conversation reflected a 180-degree shift in rhetoric “on both sides.”

But on Thursday, Petro’s tone suggested that relations had not improved significantly.

He told the BBC that the call lasted just under an hour, “most of it was taken up by me”, and covered “drug trafficking in Colombia”, Colombia’s view on Venezuela and “what is happening in Latin America regarding the United States”.

Petro has sharply criticized recent US immigration measures, accusing ICE agents of operating like “Nazi squads.”

President Trump has often blamed immigration in the United States for crime and trafficking, using it to justify large-scale enforcement operations, and has accused countries like Colombia and Venezuela of not doing enough to combat drug trafficking.

Since his return to the White House, the US president has sent ICE agents to cities across the country. The agency enforces immigration laws and investigates illegal immigration. It also plays a role in the deportation of undocumented immigrants from the United States.

The administration says so expelled 605,000 people between January 20 and December 10, 2025. It also said 1.9 million immigrants had “voluntarily self-deported”, following an aggressive awareness campaign encouraging people to leave the country on their own to avoid arrest or detention.

About 65,000 people were in ICE custody as of Nov. 30, 2025, according to data obtained by the Immigration Project from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a collection of government data from Syracuse University.

This week, a US immigration officer shot and killed a 37-year-old US citizen in the city of Minneapolis, sparking protests overnight.

Federal officials said the woman, Renee Nicole Goodhad tried to run over immigration agents with his car, but the city’s mayor, Democrat Jacob Frey, said the agent who shot him acted recklessly and demanded that the agents leave the city.

Petro said ICE had “reached the point where they are no longer just persecuting Latin Americans in the streets, which is an affront to us, but they are also killing American citizens.”

He added that if this continues, “instead of the United States dominating the world – an imperial dream – it is a United States isolated from the world.” An empire was not built in isolation from the world.”

Petro said the United States has for “decades” treated other governments, particularly in Latin America, like an “empire,” in defiance of the law.

The two leaders have long been adversaries, frequently trading insults and tariff threats on social media.

Following U.S. military action in Venezuela, Petro accused Washington of seeking wars over “oil and coal,” adding that if the United States had not withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, through which countries agreed to limit global temperature rise by reducing the use of fossil fuels, “there would be no wars, there would be a much more democratic and peaceful relationship with the world.” And with South America.”

“The Venezuelan problem is about that,” he said.

After Trump’s comments threatening military action in Colombia, protests took place across the country in the name of sovereignty and democracy.

Petro told the BBC that Trump’s remarks posed a “real threat”, citing the loss of Colombian territories like Panama in the 20th century, and said that “the prospect of withdrawing [the threat] it depends on the ongoing conversations.

Asked how Colombia would defend itself in the event of a U.S. attack, Petro said he “would prefer it to be a matter of dialogue.” He said “work is underway” on this.

But he added: “Colombia’s history shows how it responded to large armies.”

“It’s not about facing a big army with weapons we don’t have. We don’t even have air defense. Instead, we rely on the masses, on our mountains and our jungles, as we always have.”

Petro confirmed that he also spoke to Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president and former vice president and oil minister, and invited her to Colombia.

He said Venezuela “has long been subject to interference from various intelligence agencies,” adding that while those agencies were allowed to operate in Colombia, it was only to combat drug trafficking. He denounced attempts at what he called other “covert operations” in Colombia.

He did not respond directly when asked whether he feared that the CIA could carry out covert operations similar to its actions in Venezuela in Colombia, or whether he feared that his own government or inner circles had informants.

Maduro was captured by the US military’s Delta Force, the US military’s main counterterrorism unit, according to a CIA source within the Venezuelan government helped the United States locate its position.

As the world’s largest producer of cocaine, Colombia is a major hub in the global drug trade. It also has significant reserves of oil, as well as gold, silver, emeralds, platinum and coal.

The United States has said it will control Venezuelan oil sales “indefinitely” as it prepares to lift restrictions on the country’s crude on world markets.

Speaking aboard Air Force One after the Venezuela operation, Trump described Petro as a “sick man who likes to make cocaine and sell it in the United States,” adding: “He’s not going to do it for very long.”

Petro denied the claims, saying it has “always been proven that I am not involved in this.”

“For 20 years, I have been fighting against drug cartels, at the cost of my family being exiled,” he said.

A former guerrilla, Petro has pursued a strategy of “total peace” since coming to power, favoring dialogue with armed groups. Critics say the approach has been too soft as cocaine production has reached record levels.

Asked what failed and whether he accepted responsibility, Petro said the growth of coca cultivation was slowing and described “two simultaneous approaches.”

“One, talk peace with groups of bandits. The other, develop a military offensive against those who don’t want peace.”

He said negotiations were underway in southern Colombia, “where the greatest reduction in coca leaf cultivation has taken place” and “where Colombia’s homicide rate has declined the most.” Cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant.

The policy of dialogue, he said, aims to “defuse violence,” adding: “we are not fools, we know with whom we are negotiating.”