Columbian president warns of 'real threat' as tensions with US escalate

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has warned that he now sees a "real threat" of US military intervention against his country, telling that Washington's posture has become increasingly hostile.

Petro argued that the United States is behaving toward other countries as if they belong to a US "empire". His remarks follow comments by Donald Trump, who openly raised the possibility of military action against Colombia. Petro said such an approach risks pushing the US away from the international community, cautioning that it could move from "dominating the world" to becoming " isolated from the world," reports BBC.

The Colombian leader also sharply criticised US immigration enforcement, accusing agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement of operating like "Nazi brigades". Since returning to office, Trump has vastly expanded ICE activities, describing them as part of a broader effort to combat crime and undocumented immigration.

After recent US strikes in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Trump said that a military move against Colombia "sounds good". He has also repeatedly told Petro to "watch his ass", comments the Colombian president denounced.

The two leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday night. Afterwards, Trump said he would host Petro at the White House in the "near future" and later wrote on Truth Social that the call was a "Great Honour". A Colombian official said at the time that the exchange marked a 180-degree change in tone "from both sides."

However, Petro's comments the following day suggested little real thaw. He said that the conversation lasted just under an hour, "most of it occupied by me," and focused on "drug trafficking Colombia", Colombia's stance on Venezuela, and "what is happening around Latin America regarding the United States."

Petro again condemned US immigration tactics, reiterating his comparison of ICE agents to "Nazi brigades." Trump has frequently linked immigration to crime and drug trafficking, arguing that strict enforcement is necessary and accusing countries such as Colombia and Venezuela of failing to curb the drug trade.

Since Trump's return to the presidency, ICE agents have been deployed across major US cities. The agency is responsible for enforcing immigration law, investigating undocumented migration, and carrying out removals.

US officials say that between 20 January and 10 December 2025, 605,000 people were deported. They also claim that 1.9 million migrants "voluntarily self-deported" after an intensive public campaign urging people to leave before facing arrest or detention. Data from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse shows around 65,000 people were being held in ICE detention as of 30 November 2025.

Tensions intensified this week after a US immigration officer shot and killed a 37-year-old US citizen in Minneapolis, triggering overnight protests. Federal authorities said the woman, Renee Nicole Good, attempted to run over agents with her vehicle, but the city's mayor, Democrat Jacob Frey, said the officer acted recklessly and called for federal agents to leave.

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 warned that if such actions 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."

He added that for "decades", the US has treated other governments—particularly across Latin America—as an "empire", regardless of international law.