Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced that he will meet with Donald Trump on February 3, with diplomatic tensions and US military interventions in Latin America the main topic. Relations between the leaders have soured since Trump’s return to the White House.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday that he will meet his US counterpart Donald Trump on February 3 to discuss diplomatic tensions and Washington’s military actions in Latin America. TASR took over the report from the AFP agency.
“We will see what the results of this meeting will be,” Petro said during a meeting with his ministers.
First official visit
The leaders spoke on the phone for the first time last week on Wednesday, and during the conversation, Trump invited Peter for an official visit. The American president subsequently announced on Friday that his Colombian counterpart will visit the White House in February. In his statement, he also emphasized the need to eliminate drug smuggling into the United States.
AFP reports that relations between the leaders have deteriorated since Trump’s re-election as US president last January.
Tension over smuggling
Colombia has openly criticized the United States’ military actions against ships allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific. Washington’s attacks on these ships claimed dozens of lives. Petro also criticized Trump’s anti-immigration measures and large-scale deportations of immigrants.
The Trump administration accuses Peter of involvement in drug smuggling, but has never provided any evidence for these claims. According to AFP, it imposed financial sanctions on the Colombian president and his family. Bogota also threatened military intervention.
