2 days ago

Ione WellsBBC South America Correspondent, in Bogotá

Watch: BBC speaks to Colombian President Gustavo Petro

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has told the BBC that he believes there is now a "real threat" of US military action against Colombia.

Petro said the US is treating other nations as part of a US "empire". It comes after Trump said a military operation in Colombia "sounds good". Petro said that the US risks transforming from "dominating the world" to becoming "isolated from the world."

He also accused US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of acting like "Nazi brigades". Trump has significantly expanded ICE operations as part of what the administration says is a crackdown on crime and immigrants who illegally entered the US.

The BBC has approached the White House for comment.

Following US strikes on Venezuela and the seizure of Nicolás Maduro, US President Donald Trump said a military operation targeting Colombia "sounds good".

Trump has also repeatedly told Petro to "watch his ass", remarks Petro strongly condemned.

Trump and Petro spoke by phone on 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 late on Wednesday after the call, Trump described his conversation with Petro as a "Great Honour". A Colombian official said at the time that the conversation had reflected a 180-degree shift in rhetoric "from both sides."

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

He told the BBC the call lasted just under an hour, "most of it occupied by me," and covered "drug trafficking Colombia" and Colombia's view on Venezuela and "what is happening around Latin America regarding the United States."

Petro strongly criticised recent US immigration enforcement, accusing ICE agents of operating like "Nazi brigades".

Trump has accused countries like Colombia and Venezuela of not doing enough to tackle drug-trafficking.

The US has conducted more than 30 strikes in recent months on vessels that the US says were being used for drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing more than 110 people.

Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired on Thursday night that after targeting drug trafficking by water "we are going to start now hitting land", adding that "the cartels are running Mexico".

Trump has often blamed immigration for crime and trafficking in the US, using it to justify large-scale enforcement operations.

Since returning to the White House, the US president has sent ICE agents to cities across the country. The agency enforces immigration laws and conducts investigations into undocumented immigration. It also plays a role in removing undocumented immigrants from the US.

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

About 65,000 people were in ICE detention as of 30 November 2025, according to data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse's immigration project, a compendium of government data from Syracuse University.

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

Federal officials said the woman, Renee Nicole Good, had tried to run over immigration agents with her car but the city mayor, Democrat Jacob Frey, said the agent who shot her had acted recklessly and demanded agents leave the city.

Petro said ICE had "reached the point where it no longer only persecutes Latin Americans in the streets, which for us is an affront, but it also kills United States citizens."

He added that if this continued, "instead of a United States dominating the world – an imperial dream – it is a United States isolated from the world. An empire was not built by being isolated from the world."

Petro said the US has for "decades" treated other governments, particularly in Latin America, as an "empire" regardless of the law.

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

Following the US's military action in Venezuela, Petro accused Washington of seeking wars over "oil and coal," adding that if the US had not pulled out of the Paris Agreement, where countries agreed to limit global temperature rising by reducing fossil fuel use, "there would be no wars, there would be a much more democratic and peaceful relationship with the world. And South America."

"The Venezuelan issue is about this," he said.

After Trump's comments threatening military action in Colombia, demonstrations were held across the country in the name of sovereignty and democracy.

Petro told the BBC that Trump's remarks amounted to a "real threat", citing Colombia's loss of territory such as Panama in the 20th century, and said "the prospect of removing [the threat] depends on the ongoing conversations."

Asked how Colombia would defend itself in the event of a US attack, Petro said he would "prefer it to be about dialogue." He said that "work is being done" on this.

But he added: "Colombia's history shows how it has responded to large armies."

"It's not about confronting a large army with weapons we don't have. We don't even have anti-aircraft defenses. Instead, we rely on the masses, our mountains, and our jungles, as we always have."

Petro confirmed he had also spoken to Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's acting president and former vice president and oil minister, and invited her to Colombia.

He said Venezuela had "long been subject to interference by various intelligence agencies," adding that while such agencies had permission to operate in Colombia, it was solely to combat drug trafficking. He denounced attempts at what he said were other "covert operations" in Colombia.

He did not directly comment when asked whether he feared the CIA could carry out covert operations similar to their actions in Venezuela in Colombia, or whether he feared his own government or inner circles may have informants.

Maduro was captured by the US army's Delta Force, the military's top counter-terrorism unit, after a CIA source in Venezuelan government helped the US track his location.

Gustavo Petro said Colombia preferred dialogue with the US, but added the country's history showed "how it has responded to large armies"

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

The US has said it will control sales of Venezuelan oil "indefinitely" as it prepares to roll back restrictions on the country's crude in global markets.

Speaking aboard Air Force One after the Venezuela operation, Trump described Petro as a "sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States," adding: "He's not going to be doing it for very long."

Petro denied the claims, saying it has "always been proven that I'm not involved in that."

"For 20 years I have been fighting against the drug cartels, at the cost of my family having to go into exile," he said.

A former guerrilla, Petro has pursued a "total peace" strategy since taking office, prioritising dialogue with armed groups. Critics say the approach has been too soft, with cocaine production reaching record levels.

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

"One, talking about peace with groups that are bandits. And the other, developing a military offensive against those who don't want peace."

He said negotiations were ongoing in southern Colombia, "where the greatest reduction in coca leaf cultivation has occurred" and "where the homicide rate in Colombia has fallen the most." Cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant.

The policy of dialogue, he said, was intended to "de-escalate violence", adding: "we're not fools, we know who we're negotiating with."

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