Donald Trump changes tone about Colombian leader Gustavo Petro, invites him to White House
US President Donald Trump has abruptly changed his tone about his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro, saying they had exchanged a friendly phone call and he had even invited the leader of the South American country to the White House.
“It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,” Mr Trump posted on his social media site Wednesday. “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future.”
He wrote that the upcoming meeting would take place at the White House.
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In comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump added of Mr Petro, “He’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you.” Asked whether US intervention was possible, Mr Trump responded, “Sounds good to me.”
Later on Wednesday, addressing thousands of protesters that he had mobilised to rally against US military threats, Mr Petro said he had spoken with Mr Trump for roughly one hour.
“I talked about two things: Venezuela and the issue of drug trafficking,” he told the crowd in downtown Bogotá, where demonstrators had just minutes earlier chanted slogans against the United States at Mr Petro’s behest.
Mr Petro explained to the audience that Colombian politicians allegedly linked to narco-trafficking misled the US President about Mr Petro’s record to turn Mr Trump against him.
“Those (people) are responsible for this crisis - let’s call it diplomatic for now, verbal for now - that has erupted between the US and Colombia,” he said.
Mr Trump now suddenly warming to Mr Petro is especially surprising since Colombia’s president called the US operation in Venezuela an “abhorrent” violation of Latin American sovereignty.
He also suggested it was committed by “enslavers” and constituted a “spectacle of death” comparable to Nazi Germany’s 1937 carpet bombing of Guernica, Spain.
Colombia has long been among America’s staunchest Latin American allies, a pillar of Washington’s counter-narcotics strategy abroad.
For three decades, the US has worked closely with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, to arrest drug traffickers, fend off rebel groups and boost economic development in rural areas.
