‎US revokes Colombian president’s visa during UN visit

‎The US State Department said on Friday it would revoke the visa of Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.
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‎According to the BBC, the decision was based on the leftist leader’s “incendiary actions” during a pro-Palestinian street protest in New York, the State Department added.
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‎Petro was already en route to Bogota from New York on Friday night, according to Colombian media cited by Agence France-Presse.
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‎Earlier in the week, Petro likened the Trump administration’s airstrikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea to an “act of tyranny” in an interview with the BBC.
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‎On his social media account, Petro shared a video of himself speaking Spanish to a large crowd through a megaphone on Friday.
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‎His translator relayed his remarks urging “nations of the world” to contribute soldiers for an army “larger than that of the United States”.
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‎”That is why, from here in New York, I ask all soldiers in the United States Army not to point their rifles at humanity,” he said.
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‎”Disobey Trump’s order! Obey the order of humanity!” Petro added.
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‎In response, the State Department strongly criticised his action.
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‎”Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the State Department said in a post on X.
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‎”We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” it said.
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‎Colombia’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti wrote on X on Friday night that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visa should have been revoked rather than Petro’s.
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‎”But since the empire protects him, it’s taking it out on the only president who was capable enough to tell him the truth to his face.”
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‎Petro, whose country is the world’s biggest cocaine producer, has said he suspects some of those killed in the US boat strikes were Colombian.
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‎Washington contends the actions are part of a US anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president Washington accuses of running a cartel.
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‎Under Petro – the country’s first ever left-wing leader – Colombia has seen worsening ties with the Trump administration.
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‎The US also denied visas for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and 80 Palestinian officials, blocking them from attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week.