Q24N — The United States revoked Gustavo Petro’s visa following his protest in New York, accusing him of incitement and “incendiary” actions.
The U.S. State Department, led by former senator Marco Rubio, announced on Friday through social media, the revocation of Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa after he participated in a protest in New York in support of Palestine.
In a statement posted on its official X account, the institution said: “Earlier today, Colombian President Gustavo Petro stood on a New York street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke his visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.
We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.
— Department of State (@StateDept) September 27, 2025
According to El País.com, Petro took to the streets of Manhattan after his speech at the United Nations General Assembly and called on U.S. soldiers to “not point their rifles at humanity” and to “disobey Trump’s order, obey humanity’s order.”
According to the news site Infobae, at the UN, the Petro proposed the creation of a “World Salvation Army” as an international mechanism to liberate Palestine. He also added that “millions of men and women from around the world should decide to form the first detachments,” with the goal of silencing “the voice of Trump and the voice of Netanyahu.”
The decision by Washington, which has been Israel’s main political and military supporter, marks a new clash with the Petro administration. El País emphasized that the measure opens an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between Colombia and the United States.
The Colombian president was returning to Bogotá when the news broke. His Interior Minister, Armando Benedetti, was the first in his Cabinet to speak out. “The only one whose visa should have been revoked was Netanyahu,” he also stated on social media. “But since the empire protects him, they’re taking it out on the only president who was capable of telling him the truth to his face.”
Earlier this month, Colombia lost its certification as an allied country in the war on drugs, a move the United States government announced was due “exclusively to his (Petro’s) political leadership.” The US government has maintained channels of communication with other Colombian politicians and businessmen, in addition to continuing a strategic military alliance between the two armies, but has made it clear that it does not accept the Colombian president’s style of leadership.
Revoking Petro’s visa without imposing sanctions on the country is another way of sending the same message. Although Petro also has an Italian passport, with which he could enter the United States, the State Department could deny him entry if it maintains its firm position to exclude him from US territory.
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