Ex-guerrilla Colombian President Gustavo Petro vows to take up arms against Trump’s threat
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday he is ready to “take up arms” if the US attacks his country following threats from President Trump.
Following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro over the weekend, Trump suggested Colombia — and Petro — may be America’s next target in his war on drug trafficking.
“I swore not to touch a weapon again since the 1989 Peace Pact, but for the homeland, I will take up arms again,” Petro wrote on X.
The leftist leader, who has clashed with Trump in the past, argued that his government was leading the charge against the illegal drug trade in the country, telling Trump that an attack on him would only embolden the cartels.
Petro also warned Trump that bombing the cartels would endanger children and civilians whom the groups use as human shields, which would spark a humanitarian crisis.
“If you bomb even one of these groups without sufficient intelligence, you will kill many children,” Petro said. “If you bomb peasants, thousands of guerrillas will return in the mountains.
