Colombia

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Petro’s stand for dignity: Deported migrants return to Colombia without handcuffs

After the diplomatic impasse between Washington and Bogotá, the Colombian government announced the Colombian deportees received humanitarian treatment on the flights.

January 28, 2025 by Pablo Meriguet


Colombian migrants returning on a Colombian Air Force plane on January 28. Photo: Cancilleria Colombia / X

Colombian migrants arrived safely back to their home country from the United States on January 28, after a brief but tense diplomatic impasse between the two countries. The migrants had initially been put on US military planes on Saturday, January 25 to be deported back to Colombia. However, early on Sunday, President Gustavo Petro stated that he would refuse to receive planes full of Colombian migrants if they were not treated with dignity.

The exchange quickly escalated, with Trump threatening to impose heavy tariffs on the country and sanctions on Colombian officials, and Petro threatening to impose reciprocal tariffs. After several high-level talks between the Secretaries of State of both nations on Sunday evening, both sides announced that they had overcome the conflict. However, while the Colombian Foreign Ministry maintained that Colombia would continue to demand respect for its compatriots, the White House claimed that Colombia had accepted all the measures requested by Washington.

On January 27, the Colombian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the National Government had, through negotiations, arranged for the 110 Colombians to return to their country on a Colombian Air Force, “complying with the protocols established for the dignified return and with guaranteed rights for Colombians arriving on deportation flights.” It detailed that there would be “Colombian Immigration officials, as well as personnel from the Foreign Ministry’s coordination of assistance to nationals, and medical personnel” aboard the flight in order to “guarantee respect for the rights of the citizens and to carry out medical monitoring if necessary. It is expected that in the next few days, another plane will leave with the same objective.”

In a video, dozens of Colombian migrants can be seen returning to their country in a Colombian airplane of the Colombian Air Force (FAC) without handcuffs or being tied by their feet, as were the hundreds of Latino migrants recently expelled from the United States.

Upon arrival in Colombia, deportees reported mistreatment by US immigration authorities in statements to media outlets. One young man denounced, “From the beginning they mistreated us, they threw away our clothes, they did not let us bathe, they woke us up at 3 am, they waited for us to go to sleep and an hour later they woke us up, they yelled at us, some of us were beaten [by US officials].” According to the same person, the intervention of the Colombian government did change the treatment of the deportees “The last day they let us bathe, they let us brush our teeth, they treated us well.”

Colombian nationals arrived this morning to Colombia without handcuffs and on a Colombian Air Force plane.

The deportation flight back to Colombia proceeded after President Gustavo Petro had on Sunday refused to receive a flight full of deportees in protest of the inhumane… pic.twitter.com/NToPn5t4On

— Peoples Dispatch (@peoplesdispatch) January 28, 2025

Regarding the second plane that arrived in Colombia, the Colombian Foreign Ministry informed: “The second plane from San Diego (California), with 110 Colombians deported by the United States Government, has already landed at the CATAM Military Airport. The well-being of our fellow citizens and the guarantee of their rights is a priority of the Colombian Government.”

Responses from Latin America
The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign continues, and while progressive governments such as those of Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil have raised their voices in protest, they can do little to prevent Washington from carrying out its migratory mechanisms.

In this sense, Colombian Congresswoman María Fernanda Carrascal posted on X: “Put aside the gossip and get ready, because what is coming depends only on Trump, the protectionist policies that he has already announced and that include tariffs not only for Colombia, as well as the persecution of migrants, are a fact.”

She emphasized: “What depends on us is how we take on the situation, the government must be protected, and we must join forces with the region, letting ourselves be trampled on cannot be the way. We must look for ways out and other markets, other currencies to trade, all the possible alternatives.”

For now, Latin America is at a crossroads. It is deeply divided between presidents aligned with Washington’s foreign policy, and those of progressive and leftist governments, who have publicly criticized the United States for its treatment of their migrants.

The region faces an unprecedented situation with the massive repatriation of their citizens. Leaders must balance defending their migrants, while also preparing for the immediate effects the deportations will have on local economies, especially the drastic reduction in remittances and a possible rapid increase in the job-seeking population.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/01/28/ ... handcuffs/

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Trump Against Colombia
Posted by Internationalist 360° on January 27, 2025
La Jornada



The racist discourse promoted by the new government of the United States against migrants in his country found a breaking point yesterday in the decision of the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, not to allow the arrival of flights with expelled people because they were not being treated with the dignity that a human being deserves. The day before, the president of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, demanded explanations for the degrading treatment of 88 Brazilian citizens deported the day before, whom Washington sent back to their country in military planes and who traveled bound hand and foot and spent several hours without air conditioning, without being able to drink water or go to the bathroom during the flight.

The situation escalated rapidly: in response, Donald Trump announced the imposition of tariffs on Colombian exports and the suspension of visa delivery by his consular services in the South American nation, to which Petro replied that he would adopt reciprocal measures, in addition to calling a meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to analyze the aggressiveness of the new U.S. government against migrant workers.

Hours later, the Palacio de Nariño announced that the impasse had been “overcome” and that Petro’s presidential plane is ready to transport the Colombian deportees, guaranteeing them dignified conditions as subjects of law and the upcoming trip of a government team from Bogota to Washington headed by Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo to hold high-level meetings to follow up on the agreements and that the diplomatic channels of dialogue between the two countries will be maintained.

For its part, the White House issued a statement in which it assured that the Colombian government had “agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of Colombian illegals returned by the United States, including (to be carried out in) U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.” that tariffs and other trade sanctions would remain suspended, but that visa suspensions and enhanced customs inspections of Colombian products would continue until the last load (sic) of deported Colombians is successfully returned.

The episode would not be anything more than a characteristic Trump maneuver: carry out an aggressive action against another country, provoke a crisis, start a negotiation and, before it is completed, proclaim that he has defeated his counterpart. However, the infamous provocation of chaining up deportees and transporting them to their countries of origin as if they were strings of slaves has generated an outrage that transcends the Colombian sphere and Petro’s initial response. Even if they are essentially propaganda products to sustain his image as a tough man, Trump’s outbursts have the potential to provoke diplomatic and economic crises that certainly have a high cost for the countries involved in them, but which, added together, will only accentuate Washington’s isolation and its weakening as a world hegemonic power.

With all its military, economic, diplomatic and technological might, the United States cannot fight at the same time with its trading partners in this continent -starting with the main ones, which are Mexico and Canada-, Europe and Asia without going into an accelerated decline that would not be good for anyone.

Certainly, the government in Washington has the legal power to dictate inhumane and ruthless anti-immigration policies in its own territory, but not to violate the human rights of any person, American or foreign, documented or undocumented, nor to behave with transgressive bravado towards the rest of the planet. After all, his Democratic predecessors Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden expelled more foreign workers than Trump and this did not produce any diplomatic crisis.

Colombia President Petro’s Letter to Trump



We are running this dignified response to Trump from Colombian president Gustavo Petro after he refused to allow 2 US military planes loaded with Colombian nationals deported in shackles from landing in the Latin American country. Trump in his anti immigrant crusade responded by threatening Colombia with tariffs of 50% on all Colombian products coming into the US if there wasn’t compliance. As of last night a tentative agreement has been reached between the two countries and Petro has sent Colombian planes to return them in a humane way. The corporate media is saying that Petro backed down but if you read this you will see a defiance against this anti immigrant revival of the Monroe Doctrine. How much indignity are the countries of Latin America supposed to endure? –editor

“I don’t want slave drivers on Colombia’s side, we already had many and we freed ourselves”

“Trump, I don’t really like traveling to the US, it’s a bit boring, but I confess that there are meritorious things, I like going to the black neighborhoods of Washington, there I saw an entire fight once in the US capital between blacks and Latinos with barricades, which seemed like bullshit to me, because they should unite.

“I confess that I like Walt Whitman and Paul Simon and Noam Chomsky and Miller.

“I confess that Sacco and Vanzetti, who have my blood, in the history of the USA, are memorable and I follow them. They were assassinated for being labor leaders with the electric chair, the fascists that are inside the USA as well as inside my country.

“I don’t like your oil, Trump, you’re going to end the human race through greed. Maybe one day, over a drink of whisky which I accept, despite my gastritis, we can talk about this frankly, but it’s difficult because you consider me an inferior race and I am not, nor is any Colombian.

“So if you know anyone stubborn, it’s me, period. With your economic strength and your arrogance you can try to stage a coup d’état like they did with Allende. But I die in my law, I resisted torture and I resist you. I don’t want slavers alongside Colombia, we’ve had enough of them and we freed ourselves. What I want alongside Colombia are lovers of freedom. If you can’t be with me, I’ll go elsewhere. Colombia is the heart of the world and you didn’t understand that. This is the land of yellow butterflies, of the beauty of Remedios, but also of the Aureliano Buendía colonels, of whom I am one, perhaps the last.

“You will kill me, but I will survive in my people, which comes before yours, in the Americas. We are the people of the winds, the mountains, the Caribbean Sea and freedom.

“You don’t like our freedom, okay. I don’t shake hands with white slavers. I shake the hands of the white libertarians who are the heirs of Lincoln and of the black and white peasant boys of the USA, before whose graves I have cried and prayed on a battlefield, wherever I may end up, after climbing the mountains of the Italian Tuscan and after saving myself from Covid.

“They are the USA and I kneel before them, before no one else.

“Kneel for me, Mr. President, and the Americas and humanity will respond.

“Colombia, now stop looking north, look at the world, our blood comes from the blood of the Caliphate of Córdoba, the civilization at that time, of the Latin Romans of the Mediterranean, the civilization of that time, who founded the republic, the democracy in Athens; our blood has the black resisters turned into slaves by you. In Colombia is the first free territory in America, before Washington, in all of America, there I take refuge in its African songs.

“My land is of gold and silver work existing in the time of the Egyptian pharaohs, and of the first artists in the world in Chiribiquete.

“You will never dominate us. The warrior who rode through our lands, shouting freedom and who is called Bolívar, is opposed.

“Our people are somewhat fearful, somewhat shy, they are naive and kind, loving, but they will know how to win the Panama Canal, which you took from us by violence. Two hundred heroes from all over Latin America lie in Bocas del Toro, present-day Panama, formerly Colombia, whom you murdered.

“I raise a flag and as Gaitán said, even if I am alone, it will continue to fly with the Latin American dignity that is the dignity of America, which your great-grandfather did not know, and mine did, Mr. President immigrant in the USA.

“Your blockade does not frighten me; because Colombia, as well as being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world. I know that you love beauty as I do, do not disrespect it and it will give you its sweetness.

“COLOMBIA AS OF TODAY OPENS ITSELF TO THE WHOLE WORLD, WITH OPEN ARMS, WE ARE BUILDERS OF FREEDOM, LIFE AND HUMANITY.

“I have been informed that you are charging a 50% tariff on our fruits of human labor to enter the US, I will do the same.

“May our people plant the corn that was discovered in Colombia and feed the world.”

Source: Cubadebate translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English

Trump, a mi no me gusta mucho viajar a los EEUU, es un poco aburridor, pero confieso que hay cosas meritorias, me gusta ir a los barrios negros de Washington, allí ví una lucha entera en la capital de los EEUU entre negros y latinos con barricadas, que me pareció una pendejada,…

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) January 26, 2025

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/01/ ... -colombia/

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Social Uprising in Colombia: 4 Years Later, Impunity Reigns
May 11, 2025


Colombian protesters confront security forces amidst tear gas and water cannons. Photo: Colombia Informa.

By Alfonso Insuasty Rodríguez – May 7, 2025

Social organizations in Columbia demand a Truth Commission to investigate the crimes committed by the Colombian State, to compensate the victims, and to guarantee that repression will not be repeated. Four years after the social uprising in Colombia, impunity reigns.

Four years after the social outburst that shook Colombia between 2019 and 2021, which turned particularly intense 2021, a deep open wound persists that has not yet been addressed with the seriousness that it deserves. The massive mobilization days, largely led by excluded youth and historically marginalized sectors, represented a turning point in the country’s recent history: not only due to the magnitude of social protest but also because of the severity of the state’s response.

The mobilizations initially emerged as a reaction to a regressive tax reform of the government of Iván Duque, in the context of a health and economic crisis exacerbated by the pandemic.

However, they quickly transformed into an accumulated expression of popular discontent against decades of structural exclusion, precarious living conditions, repression, and lack of effective representation. The slogans in the streets were not limited to short-term demands, but directly challenged the foundations of the developmental model, the distribution of political power, and the foundations of Colombian democracy.

In response to these demands, the state’s reaction was predominantly repressive, treating the popular uprising as a war. Various national and international organizations documented serious human rights violations, including disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detentions, sexual violence, forced disappearance, and homicides perpetrated by members of the security forces and armed civilians in collusion with the National Police, particularly the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD).

This repressive pattern was not an isolated event. Previously, in 2019 and 2020, events such as the murder of lawyer Javier Ordóñez exposed a systematic trend of police abuse. At the height of the uprising, in 2021, the repression deepened with a painful toll: at least 169 young men and women were killed by the security forces and armed civilians.

In total, there have been 970 documented cases of state violence, according to data collected by social organizations as part of a national campaign to demand justice and truth. This figure, although significant, does not represent the totality of the facts, since information from many municipalities and territories is yet to be collected, as the campaign has just begun.

Despite the magnitude of the social crisis and the abuses committed, the Colombian State, now headed by Gustavo Petro, has not yet fulfilled its promise to advance mechanisms for clarification and reparation. One of the most serious omissions has been the lack of creation of a Truth Commission specifically designed for the investigation of the social uprising. This is despite the fact that the current president, during his electoral campaign as well as at a public event on May 10, 2024, promised to create a Truth mechanism.

This failure not only reflects possible institutional disinterest but beyond that, perpetuates the cycle of impunity, delegitimizes the suffering of victims, and reinforces the official narrative based on silencing and criminalizing social protest.

Facing this omission, multiple social organizations, victims, university organizations, youth collectives, and human rights defenders have promoted a national campaign to demand justice, truth and reparation, whose central objective is the creation of an autonomous, independent Truth Commission with the active participation of the victims.



This commission must have sufficient legitimacy to investigate the crimes committed during the uprising, establish institutional responsibilities, and recommend concrete measures for comprehensive reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.

The demand for a commission is not simply a symbolic act; it constitutes a fundamental tool for the construction of historical memory, the recovery of the fractured social fabric, and the consolidation of a truly participatory democracy.

In this regard, experiences such as the Siloé Popular Tribunal (Cali, 2023), or initiatives such as the #JusticiaYVerdadEnAcción campaign (2025) show an active citizenry that not only resists, but also proposes paths of reconstruction from below, from the territories and from the living memory of those who survived the repression.

These civil society proposals are, in turn, an ethical challenge to the Colombian state, which until now has demonstrated a concerning lack of political will to recognize its institutional responsibility.

The failure to implement substantive reforms in the security doctrine, the persistence of repressive structures such as the ESMAD, and the systematic use of criminal law to silence dissent, reinforce a model of social control incompatible with democratic principles.

Consequently, it is urgent to create a Truth Commission for the social outbreak in addition to the immediate dismantling of the ESMAD, whose history of human rights violations has been repeatedly documented. At the same time, the participation of multilateral human rights organizations is required, as well as constant monitoring by the international community, in order to ensure that Colombia fulfills its international commitments to truth, justice and reparation.

Four years later, the social uprising remains an open wound that challenges the Colombian society as a whole. The victims and their families have not ceased in their search for truth and justice. Impunity, on the other hand, remains an institutional constant. Without decisive action by the State, without moving from discourse to structural transformation, the root causes of the protest will continue to exist.

Colombia finds itself today at a historical crossroads: advance toward a substantive democracy with social justice or perpetuate the structure of an authoritarian model that normalizes repression as a form of governance.

At this juncture, organized memory, the ethical claims of the victims and social mobilization stand as the real possibility for change. Justice is not vengeance, it is reparations. And memory, when articulated from below, can open the way to a different history that in turn would pave the way to real peace with structural transformations.

https://orinocotribune.com/social-upris ... ty-reigns/

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Colombian President Petro Calls for CELAC-U.S. Summit


The Great Wall of China. X/ @gurozu

May 12, 2025 Hour: 9:05 am

He arrived in Beijing to take part in the fourth China-CELAC Ministerial Meeting.

On Monday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) wants to hold a summit with the United States, similar to the meeting scheduled for Tuesday with China in Beijing.

“We have requested the U.S. government to hold a CELAC-United States summit; the goal, due to its geographic position, is to become the heart of the social, political and economic world,” Petro said in a short video recorded after visiting the Great Wall of China.

Petro arrived in Beijing to take part in the fourth China-CELAC Ministerial Meeting, a mechanism for which he has served as pro tempore president since last month. He is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit aimed at strengthening diplomatic and economic ties, as well as cooperation.

The Colombian president will carry out a “high-level agenda” in China beginning Tuesday with the China-CELAC forum. Although it is a meeting of foreign ministers, the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Brazil will also attend—an unprecedented occurrence.


President Gustavo Petro’s text reads, “I was a bit tired of climbing the Great Wall, but here is an explanation of what I intend to accomplish during my official visit to China, as president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and as president of the Republic of Colombia.”
“With this meeting, Colombia reaffirms its commitment to multilateralism, regional integration and the construction of strategic alliances that promote sustainable development and global equity,” the Colombian presidency said. Colombia currently holds the rotating presidency of CELAC.

During Petro’s stay in China, which will last until May 17, several trade agreements are expected to be signed, along with a possible memorandum of understanding for Colombia to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“I want to talk with the Chinese about dialogue between civilizations, about how Latin America must engage with the world, and, of course, about Colombia—specifically, to sign several trade agreements,” Petro said on April 21.

The potential for Colombia to join the Belt and Road Initiative also carries an implicit message to Washington. While launching an unprecedented global trade war, the U.S. has also pressured Latin American countries to distance themselves from China and abandon such projects—something Panama already did earlier this year.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/colombia ... -s-summit/

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Colombians are on strike against the ruling class boycott of the labor reform referendum

The popular consultation would ask Colombians about a labor reform bill that Petro’s government has been trying to promote for months, which has been boycotted on several occasions. The Senate itself blocked the popular consultation.

May 29, 2025 by Pablo Meriguet


Members of CUT marching in the Colombian capital Bogotá. Photo: CUT

On May 28 and 29, Colombian social and student organizations, political parties, and labor unions are partaking in a national strike. The strike is to mobilize support for the popular consultation proposed by the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, to approve his government’s labor reform bill, which has been tabled and boycotted by the opposition parties, the right-wing media, and powerful business groups.

Petro’s bill seeks to improve the situation of Colombian workers and address historic inequality. Among some of the key points of Petro’s reform are:

Definition of contracts for an indefinite term as a general rule. Other contracts must be justified on a case-by-case basis and for limited periods.
Progressive reduction of the work week from 48 to 42 hours without affecting salaries, and adherence to the 8 hour work day
Progressive increase in pay for work on mandatory rest days and holidays.
Guarantee social security affiliation for digital platform workers, in addition to a guaranteed minimum wage.
Facilitate the creation of unions and strengthen existing ones.
Introduce measures that make unjustified dismissals more difficult.
However, the bill was stopped by the majority of the legislature. In view of the blockage, Petro proposed a Popular Consultation so that the Colombian people could define whether they agree with the proposed reforms. However, on May 14, the Senate denied the possibility in a vote with 49 against, cast by the Conservative Party, Democratic Center, and Radical Change, and 47 in favor.

“Against the boycott, popular mobilization!”
Faced with this situation, Petro called on the Colombian people to demonstrate in the streets in favor of a reform that seeks to improve working conditions: “I immediately propose a meeting of the workers’ centers, the peasant coordination, the community action boards, the neighborhood youth committees and the Indigenous movement to take the next step… The people cannot be silenced with a trap. I am ready for whatever the people decide.”

Colombia’s organized sectors responded overwhelmingly to Petro’s call for mobilization. The country’s major labor federations, such as the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) and the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), the major social movement platforms such as Congreso de Los Pueblos (the People’s Congress) and Marcha Patriótica (the Patriotic March), the major peasant organizations, student groups, and cultural collectives are participating in and organizing the nationwide mobilizations and rallies to demand that the Senate allow a popular consultation. On May 28, several avenues in Bogotá, the capital, were blocked by workers and several students who joined the protest.

#movilizacion Avanza a esta hora en todo el país el Paro Nacional convocado por trabajadores y trabajadoras en favor de la consulta popular y las reformas sociales de gobierno nacional. pic.twitter.com/f7DIoltdpV

— Colombia Informa (@Col_Informa) May 28, 2025

The president of the CUT, Fabio Arias, said about the demonstration: “The mobilizations throughout the country during the 48-hour national strike… result in a favorable balance. People mobilized. In Bogotá, there were demonstrations not only in the center of the city and in Plaza Bolivar, but also in various localities… The peaceful mobilizations are total support to the popular consultation, to the social reforms of change.”

For its part, Alba Movimientos stated in a communiqué in support of the strike and the consultation: “The Consultation seeks to reinforce the support of the Colombian people for the reforms proposed by the government on fundamental issues such as labor legislation. These reforms have encountered permanent obstacles from the opposition sectors in the Congress of the Republic, since they seek to transform the structure of precarious [work] installed by the neoliberal model in the country that sustains the privileges of the oligarchy to the present day.”

In addition, ALBA Movimientos claims: “Although the powerful wish so, and try all kinds of devious mechanisms to avoid it, the Colombian people have responded massively by calling for mobilization actions and debate on the content of the Consultation, and have decided to take to the streets to defend the power that the Constitution guarantees them as primary constituents. The defense of the project of change in Colombia is a priority for the social and popular movements of Our America: there will be no transformation in our continent without a structural change in Colombia that guarantees dignified life, peace, democracy, and sovereignty in the country.”

The Senate’s counterproposal
The Senate, perhaps fearing massive mobilization, decided to take up and modify the labor reform by other means. After a debate that lasted more than 10 hours, the Fourth Commission of the Senate, with 13 votes in favor and 2 against, approved a bill that will now have to be considered by all senators before June 20, the end of the legislature. The Fourth Committee proposes:

Increase in Sunday and holiday surcharges, which must increase every year until reaching 100%;
Change of the night shift schedule, which would be established from 7:00 pm to 6:00 am.
In addition, the possibility of a 42-hour work week, and the possibility of working four days a week and having three days off, was approved.
The prohibition to sign fixed-term contracts for more than five years; in addition, this type of contract will always be signed in writing.
Generalize the indefinite-term contract as the base contract for all new hiring, and any worker who has worked on a fixed-term contract for more than five years immediately becomes an indefinite-term worker.
Grant paid leave to attend emergency or scheduled medical appointments.

However, the Senate did not approve labor contracts for apprentices, a proposal by Petro to strengthen the rights of youth workers. In addition, the Commission would have introduced a long-standing desire of Colombian employers: the hourly contract. The original reform proposed that apprentices of the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) be linked through labor contracts to the companies where they work, allowing them to earn a minimum wage and enjoy all the guarantees provided by social benefits.

In this regard, trade union leader Fabio Arias said: “We have to criticize the Fourth Commission of the Senate, which, although it approved in its report [several original proposals of the reform], unfortunately, it did not approve the labor nature of apprenticeship contracts. That is to say, it gives a kick to young workers… But the most serious thing is that it introduced a regressive reform that Uribism [(a political tendency close to former President Alvaro Uribe)] always wanted to impose: the hourly contract. We reject that decision and we will go to the Senate so that those regressive measures are eliminated!”

For now, it remains to be seen whether the labor unions, social movements, and political organizations in favor of the social reforms proposed by Petro, who are still fighting, will be able to force the senators to promote a popular consultation. However, the opposition in Colombia, composed of strong economic groups and political parties, is powerful and does not want to see any major changes to its neoliberal labor regime, perfected over several governments.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/29/ ... eferendum/

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Leak: Former Colombian Foreign Minister Leyva Sought US Support to Overthrow Petro
June 29, 2025


Former Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva next to a US flag. Photo: Mauricio Dueñas Castañeda/EFE/file photo.

Audio recordings and sources close to the White House reveal that Álvaro Leyva, Colombia’s former foreign minister, attempted to coordinate a forced departure of President Gustavo Petro with Donald Trump’s advisors. The leaks also implicate Vice President Francia Márquez.

Testimonies—published on Sunday, June 29, by the Spanish newspaper El País—expose Leyva’s attempt to coordinate with Republican figures in the United States to oust Petro.

The recordings, held by Colombian intelligence, detail meetings with Donald Trump’s advisors, unsubstantiated accusations against Petro and a plan to install Vice President Francia Márquez in his place.

According to sources, Leyva—who was one of Petro’s most trusted allies—traveled to Washington in April to seek complicity among sectors close to the former US president. His objective: to generate “international pressure” justifying the ousting of Colombia’s first leftist government.

The strategy would include spreading drug addiction accusations against Petro and negotiating with armed groups to destabilize the country.

The audio recordings show Leyva claiming to have “evidence” disqualifying Petro from office. The conversations reportedly occurred alongside the former foreign minister’s social media posts alleging the Colombian president’s addiction problems, which he said led to detrimental decisions. Leyva publicly asked Petro to step aside.

The released material shows conversations mentioning key figures, from Sen. Marco Rubio to journalist Vicky Dávila. It also reveals contacts with Florida Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, a Trump ally, and suggests including Miguel Uribe—the opposition Democratic Center party leader who was shot June 7 and remains in critical condition—in the plan.

Francia Márquez
Testimonies leaked by Colombian intelligence also implicate Vice President Francia Márquez. Leyva claims in recordings that the vice president was “involved” in the strategy, citing private messages where she promised “firmness” for March 31, Leyva’s chosen date to depose Petro. According to El País, Petro confronted Márquez after receiving the leak and demanded a public denial, which she refused.

This Sunday, following the publication by El País, Márquez posted a social media letter stating she has “a clear conscience, a clear mind and a firm heart.” She added: “I deeply respect the constitutional order, and within it, the figure of the president of the republic as a symbol of national unity.”

Petro described Leyva’s actions as an attempted “coup d’état” and ordered investigations. The former foreign minister—now in Madrid—denies the accusations. Sources close to the White House confirmed to El País that the Trump administration never considered supporting the plan.

The scandal reflects deep divisions within the ruling party. Leyva, a longtime conservative, was instrumental in achieving “total peace” and rapprochement with Venezuela, but his 2024 departure from government—due to bidding irregularities—led him to act independently.

https://orinocotribune.com/leak-former- ... row-petro/

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Colombian House of Representatives Passes President Petro’s Pension Reform


Colombian lawmakers cellebrate the passing of President Gustavo Petro’s pension reform. Photo: X/ @oscarvillani

June 29, 2025 Hour: 1:32 pm


This Saturday, in special sessions, the House of Representatives of Colombia gave its approval to the text of the penal reform that the Senate had endorsed, in response to a request from the Constitutional Court for procedural defects.

The legislative chamber approved it with 104 votes in favour and nine against, the request made by members of the Historical Pact to accept the text of the pension reform approved by the Senate, seeking to speed up the legislative process and avoid a conciliation.


President Gustavo Petro welcomed the approval of this reform, one of his key proposals, through his X account saying: “We have triumphed. Long live the grandmothers and grandparents of Colombia. The pension reform has been approved. I have fulfilled and the House of Representatives has fulfilled.”


Petro has stated that this reform could achieve 100 per cent total coverage between pensions and retirement bonds of senior citizens over a two-year period.

The proposal does not provide for an increase in the retirement age, which will remain at 57 for women and 62 for men.

The pension reform, one of the most prominent social projects of the Petro government, aims to expand the system’s coverage through a four-pillar scheme, ranging from support for seniors without pensions to voluntary contributions.

The House of Representatives had already approved the pension reform in the middle of last year, however, the Constitutional Court returned it to Congress, which ordered a procedural error to be rectified so that it could enter into force.

The ruling of the Constitutional Court was heard only three days before the end of the legislative period, on the Friday of the previous week, and set a period of 30 working days to rectify the case, So Petro called the members of the House to extraordinary sessions on the eve to resume the debate.

The required quorum of a quarter of the MPs could not be met on Friday because the opposition parties said that no official notification of the Tribunal’s verdict had been obtained and that, without it, holding sessions was illegal.

Although the quorum was obtained in this Saturday’s session, the opposition parties Cambio Radical and Centro Democrático did not participate and complained, respectively, that the summons “was not carried out correctly” so that the procedure under such circumstances would be a “acting out of privilege.”

With this Saturday’s vote, the Representatives would have solved the procedural problem, and the pension reform would be ready to be approved by Petro.



https://www.telesurenglish.net/colombia ... on-reform/

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Colombian Mercenaries in Modern Conflicts
August 16, 21:02



Colombian Mercenaries in Modern Conflicts

Colombian mercenaries in the spotlight
Recently, the media has increasingly begun to report on the participation of Colombian mercenaries in various conflicts around the world: in Yemen, Sudan, the so-called Ukraine.

This is primarily due to the fact that the mechanism for recruiting Colombian mercenaries has long been well-established: since 2011, retired Colombian military personnel began to appear in North Africa and the Middle East. There are also reports of Colombians in Iraq in 2006.

The reason for the popularity of mercenaries among Colombian military personnel is simple - it is a good way to earn good money. And the experience gained in battles with Colombian groups turned out to be in great demand.

The main recruitment of mercenaries is through private companies such as the Global Security Service Group from the UAE and the national International Services Agency A4SI, headed by retired Colonel Alvarez Quijano.

Geography of Colombian mercenaries

The first "deliveries" were made back in 2014 - then about 2,000 mercenaries from Colombia arrived in the UAE - many of them ended up in Yemen and Sudan, as well as Libya.

In Sudan, Colombian mercenaries are part of the Rapid Reaction Force, where, as is known, they take part in assault operations in the city of El Fasher. Some mercenaries are engaged in instructor activities: there is publicly available information about their training of Sudanese minors.

Mercenaries often get to the territory of the so-called Ukraine through Segurcol Ltd, which also supplies fighters for the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

In light of the outflow of mercenaries from the so-called Ukraine, the Kiev regime, in addition to the GUR and the Foreign Legion, again began recruiting through its consulates and embassies, as it did at the very beginning of the Ukrainian conflict. Through this channel, people without combat experience, but who want to acquire it for some personal purposes (for example, joining an organized crime group), mostly join the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In Yemen, Colombians managed to take part in battles on the side of the UAE authorities against the Houthis. Many of the veterans eventually end up in Sudan, coordinating local forces or operating UAVs, which they learned in the UAE.

Given the situation, some foreign experts once called Colombia the first country to "accept" mercenarism. However, the Colombian authorities have been trying to fight this status for the second year.

Recently, against the backdrop of the deaths of 40 Colombian mercenaries in Sudan, President Petro urgently introduced a bill to parliament to ban mercenarism, but so far there has been no significant progress in the matter.

The situation is fueled by the fact that every year the number of retired Colombian military personnel is growing, and the profession of a mercenary is still considered (and is) one of the highest paid in the region. As is their recruitment.



Well, practice shows that no one will let the Petro government break the business scheme that is pleasing to too many.

High-resolution map ( https://rybar.ru/piwigo/upload/2025/08/ ... 136b6d.jpg )

The Russian Armed Forces and the Houthis have been the ones to beat up Colombian mercenaries the most.
A special feature of Colombian mercenaries' participation in the war in Ukraine is that they are almost never captured. Only two hundred for some unknown reason. A captured Colombian is as rare a guest as a captured American. Some weeks, dozens of obituaries of killed Colombians pop up online.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/10014671.html

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President of Colombia Calls for International Army to Stop Gaza Genocide
September 25, 2025


Colombian President Gustavo Petro delivers his address at the United Nations General Assembly, September 24, 2025. Photo: X/@infopresidencia.

On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the United States’ extraterritorial policy of war and its active military presence in the Caribbean Sea during his participation in the 80th United Nations General Assembly, held in New York, at the headquarters of the UN. He also called for the formation of an international armed force to stop the Gaza genocide that is being committed by the Zionist entity.

At the beginning of his speech on Wednesday, September 24, the Colombian president emphasized that US actions in the Caribbean today are making barbarism a global reality. He added that the US is trying to impose on Latin America what has been happening in Gaza for years, amounting to genocide.

He stressed that the missiles that Washington is launching in the Caribbean are not meant to stop drug trafficking and that narrative is a “lie” to subjugate Latin American countries under the guise of fighting international drug trafficking organizations.

Petro added that US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy toward Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean is being curated by “Colombians who are political allies of the cocaine mafia.”

He also condemned the killings of civilians in speedboats in the Caribbean, in which 17 young people have reportedly been killed by US missile strikes in the alleged fight against drug trafficking.

In this regard, the Colombian president emphasized that those people were unarmed and were exterminated simply for being “poor.”

“Drug policy is not about stopping cocaine from reaching the US,” stated President Petro at the UN. “It is about dominating the peoples of the Global South in general,” he said. “It does not focus on drugs; it focuses on power and domination.” Petro also condemned the treatment of Latin American migrants in the US, who are labeled as criminals without evidence by Washington and held in “concentration camps” in the style of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

Missiles are dropped on the poor
“They call us drug traffickers when most drug traffickers are blond and blue-eyed and keep their enormous fortunes in the world’s largest banks,” noted President Petro. “They do not live in Bogotá, or Caracas, or the Caribbean, or Gaza but in Miami and are neighbors of the US president. They live in New York, Paris, Madrid, Dubai—they live where there is luxury, not poverty—but the missiles are fired where there is poverty, not luxury,” Petro said.

The Colombian president added that the US claim that the Tren de Aragua criminal gang is an international drug-trafficking terrorist organization is false: “It is a lie that the Tren de Aragua is a terrorist group. They are just common criminals organized as a gang, and Washington has blown it out of proportion due to its stupid idea of blockading Venezuela and seizing its oil.”

He also stressed that “migrants are not criminals” and that there is no reason whatsoever to send them to “concentration camps” after US authorities expel them from the country “in chains.”

“Migration is nothing more than the product of the blockade imposed on poor countries, such as Iran, Iraq, Cuba, or Venezuela,” stated President Petro. “The economic blockade is nothing more than genocide.”

Forming an international force to stop the genocide of Palestinians
The Colombian president condemned the genocide against the Palestinian people and pointed out that the international community, including Trump and the UN, is complicit in Israel’s extermination of Gazans.

“Trump does not talk about democracy, he does not talk about the climate crisis, he does not talk about life; he only threatens, kills, and lets tens of thousands die,” Petro said.

He called on the UN to work to ensure that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those responsible for the genocide in Palestine are captured and prosecuted for their crimes against humanity. He also urged the organization to stop the diplomacy that has failed to address global problems and instead take action to stop the genocide in Gaza.

“Palestine must be liberated,” Petro said, calling on the international community to take up arms and form an international army to stop the Zionist entity’s military actions, which no one has been able to halt so far. “The UN must begin its transformation by stopping the genocide in Gaza by creating a global army of salvation voted into existence by the UN General Assembly and free from veto,” he emphasized.

Capitalism or life
Petro also warned that the historical moment that humanity is currently experiencing, driven by the actions of the most powerful Western countries—which privilege a “rich and racist society” that considers itself the “superior race”—is leading humanity “to the abyss of its own destruction.”

The Colombian president stressed that the world must choose between ending the capitalist economic model or facing the end of the planet. “The world is facing a choice between capital or life, greed or life, barbarism or democracy, liberty or death, as the Liberator Simón Bolívar used to say.”

“What is needed to overcome the climate crisis is a global revolution of the peoples—of united peoples, of civilizations. It should be a revolution of humanity to remain alive and free,” added the Colombian president. He urged the UN to reform itself based on the vision of the unity of civilizations above nation-states and governments.

He also condemned the imposition of economic blockades by the US against countries such as Venezuela, a policy designed by Washington to try to overthrow democratically elected leaders, install vassal governments, and profit from the natural resources of sovereign natures.

This speech came amid tensions between Colombia and the US after US President Donald Trump ordered a large-scale military deployment in the Caribbean with the pretext of combating drug trafficking. Although there is no evidence, Washington claims that it has destroyed three “drug boats,” resulting in 17 deaths. Petro has referred to these actions “murders.”

He also severely criticized Washington’s decision to decertify Colombia in its fight against drugs, which he called Washington’s “colonial blackmail” against the Colombian government because of its left-wing policies.

Trump will make more war
President Petro described the speech delivered by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, at the United Nations General Assembly as “contrary to the interests of humanity.”

“I can tell you about the mistakes in Trump’s drug policy, because he is fueling it,” President Petro commented. “In his climate policy, because he is going to exacerbate it; in his immigration policy, because he is going to make more wars; and his policy facing the enormous crisis that humanity is already experiencing and that must be stopped immediately if we want the children of everyone everywhere on the planet to live,” the Colombian president said to the press in New York.

According to him, Trump, in his UN speech, displayed a “negative force, a force contrary to life, a deeply ignorant, obscurantist force,” referring to the US president’s stance on the conflict in Gaza and other global issues.

President Petro added that the “negative force” intends to take humanity “back to the times of Hitler. And following the example of humanity in the times of Hitler, we must defeat Hitler.”

Earlier, the US president boasted about his country’s might; criticized the UN’s lack of effectiveness in resolving global conflicts; questioned the growing diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state; defended the actions of the genocidal Zionist colony; attacked Europe, Iran, and Venezuela; and denied the existence of the climate crisis.

https://orinocotribune.com/president-of ... -genocide/

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Petro Defies US Call for Retraction: ‘Give Us the Truth’
October 10, 2025


The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro. Photo: Andrea Puentes/Presidency of Colombia.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro demanded that US authorities provide information about Colombian citizens killed when US naval forces blew up a boat in the Caribbean—a claim for which Washington demanded a public retraction.

“The White House should give us the information on the people who have died from US missiles, so that we can see if my information is baseless,” President Petro stated on Wednesday, October 8.

The statement came after an unidentified US official sent the following message to Colombian journalist Juan Camilo Merlano: “The United States looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement so that we can return to a productive dialogue on building a strong and prosperous future for the people of the United States and Colombia.” The journalist posted the message on social media.

Commenting on the post, the Colombian president emphasized that there were indications the latest vessel bombed by US forces in international waters of the Caribbean Sea “was Colombian, with Colombian citizens on board.” He added that “a new war zone has opened up: the Caribbean” and that “it is not a war on drug trafficking,” but rather “a war for oil,” which “must be stopped by the world. The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Petro’s criticisms
The Colombian president has openly questioned the effectiveness of Washington’s anti-drug policy in the region, arguing that it criminalizes peasants who grow illicit crops and small-time traffickers, while ignoring measures to curb demand in the US and leaving money-laundering structures and major drug lords untouched.

His comments took on a more stringent tone after the US military deployment in the Caribbean Sea—presented as an action against cartels—with Venezuela singled out as the main target, even though specialized reports emphasize that Venezuela’s role in the illicit drug trade to North America is marginal at best.

Thus, Petro has joined voices questioning the US narrative about the “Cartel de los Soles,” a purported drug-trafficking organization that the US claims is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“The Cartel de los Soles does not exist. It is a fiction created by the far right to overthrow governments that do not obey them,” Petro said. “The transit of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela is controlled by the ‘Drug Trafficking Board,’ and its kingpins live in Europe and the Middle East.”

Similarly, he has condemned the bombing of small vessels in Caribbean waters, arguing that their crews were extrajudicially executed in violation of international law and protocols for intercepting suspected “go-fast boats.”

US aggression in the Caribbean
In August, some mainstream media reported on a US military deployment in the southern Caribbean, ostensibly to combat drug cartels. At the same time, US Attorney General Pam Bondi raised the reward $50 million for information leading to Nicolás Maduro’s arrest on the unsubstantiated accusation of leading a “drug trafficking cartel.”

So far, Washington claims to have bombed five vessels in the Caribbean, resulting in at least 21 fatalities. Colombia has labeled these deaths as “murders.” Meanwhile, international bodies, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have stated that “people should not die for using, selling, or consuming drugs.”

Following the US military deployment, foreign ministers from blocs such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) have called for respect for the region’s status as a zone of peace.

President Maduro maintains that his country is the victim of a multifront war orchestrated by the US to bring about “regime change.”

https://orinocotribune.com/petro-defies ... the-truth/