President Petro’s clash with Trump over Venezuela backs Colombia into a corner

BOGOTÁ: An “abhorrent” violation of Latin American sovereignty. An attack committed by “enslavers.” A “spectacle of death” comparable to Nazi Germany’s 1937 carpet bombing of Guernica, Spain.

There is perhaps no world leader criticizing the Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela as stronglyhistorically Washington’s most important ally in the region.

For the past 30 years, 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.

But while other officials tread carefully, Colombia’s outspoken president has seized onAnswering a protest call issued by Petro, thousands of Colombians gathered in public squares across the country Wednesday “to defend national sovereignty” against Trump’s military threats, chanting “Long live free and sovereign Colombia!” and waiting anxiously to hear what they expected would be Petro’s latest scathing salvo in his clash with Trump.

Instead, to everyone’s surprise, the Colombian president offered an olive branch to the man who has repeatedly called him a drug kingpin, despite a lack of evidence. “I had one speech prepared for today, but I have to give another one,” Petro told the crowd in Colombia’s capital of BogotáThe sudden détente between the irascible foes revealed that, for all their differences, Petro and Trump share a willingness to side with an ideological rival if deemed to be in their best interest.

For Colombia, the US remains key to the military’s fight against leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers. Washington has provided Bogotá with roughly $14 billion in the last two decades. For the US, Colombia remains the cornerstone of its counternarcotics strategy abroad, providing crucial intelligence used to interdict drugs in the Caribbean.

“The Colombians are extremely effective in taking advantage of their contacts in Washington, on the Hill and elsewhere, and the private sector is mobilized,”Thrilled by Maduro’s ouster, Trump pushed the fight further in recent days. He called Petro a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States” and warned of a possible US military operation on Colombian soil.Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez also rushed to put out the fire, declaring this week a “golden moment” for the US and Colombia to move away from confrontation.

In perhaps the most serious warning yet, Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio told reporters Tuesday that even as Colombia sought to resolve tensions diplomatically, authorities were preparing for “the possibility of aggression against our country by the United States.”

“For this, we have a highly trained, very well prepared army,” she said. After all, it has long received training from the US.

Casting himself as a patriot defending national sovereignty from US meddling, Petro convened emergency meetings before the United Nations and the Organization of American States. He galvanized nationwide protests Wednesday where banners read “The US is the biggest threat to world peace.Frustrated with congressional resistance to his contentious reforms, failing to fulfill his promise of “total peace” with armed groups and facing a series of electoral tests, Petro found in Trump the perfect foil as he fought for his legacy. “He wants this stage where he is the clearest adversary, rhetorically or politically, to the US,” said Sergio Guzman, a political risk analyst based in Bogotá.

The constitution bars Petro from seeking another term in May’s presidential vote. Still, as Colombia’s first leftist president, Petro wants his coalition to retain power over the resurgent right that blames his unpopular government for rising crime. Colombia will also hold legislative elections in March.

“The first speech was quite harsh. I had to change it.”