Colombian President says he will 'take up arms again' amid Trump's threats
Colombian President Gustavo Petro vows to take up arms amid threats from his American counterpart Donald Trump to him. He wrote a post of the relevant content published in the social network X.
Petro warned that he would "take up arms again" if the United States decided to attack him or his country, after a series of threats from the American leader.
Colombia's president highlighted his efforts to combat drug trafficking, which Trump has criticized, and said that US military strikes against drug traffickers in his country could lead to the deaths of children and the revitalization of separatist groups that have been in conflict with the state for decades.
"And if they arrest the president, who has the support and respect of a large part of the country, they will unleash a popular uprising," Petro added.
Colombia's president, a former member of the M19 guerrilla group, also said he would fight to defend the country himself.
"After the 1989 peace agreement, I vowed never to touch a weapon again, but for the sake of my country, I will take up a weapon I no longer need," Petro wrote.
He added that he has great faith in his people and therefore asked them to protect the president from any illegal act of violence.
"The way to protect ourselves is to take power in every municipality in the country. The order to the security forces is not to shoot at the people, but to shoot at the invaders," the Colombian leader emphasized.
On the eve of, Trump called Colombia a "sick" country, like Venezuela, and believes that it would be "good" to conduct a special operation there as well after capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
In his youth, Petro was a member of the left-wing guerrilla movement, the April 19 Movement (M19), founded in protest of the 1970 elections.
M19 was associated with illegal activities and was suspected of kidnapping for ransom, but Petro claims that he was engaged in legitimate activities aimed at mobilizing people to oppose what he called "false democracy."
- In September 2025, the United States decided to cancel the visa to the President of Colombia after he took to the streets of New York for a pro-Palestinian demonstration and called on American soldiers to disobey Trump's orders.
- In late October, the United States introduced sanctions against Petro. The United States claims that since he came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has reached its highest level in decades, poisoning Americans.
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