OAN Staff James Meyers
11:48 AM – Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Colombia’s left-wing president claims that he is no longer welcome in the United States. This follows his initial refusal to accept more U.S. flights carrying deported Colombian nationals who illegally entered the U.S., in addition to Colombian nationals who have been deemed terrorists — as members of cartels and Tren de Aragua (TdA).
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This morning, however, the outlet El Espectador rejected the report, citing diplomatic sources in the United States. According to the site, despite the fact that the Colombia-U.S. relationship has been fraught with difficulties this year, diplomatic lines are still open — the outlet Colombia 1 reported.
Additionally, other surfacing reports similarly claim that there is no record of such an action, and Petro has not received any formal notification regarding a visa cancellation
Gustavo Petro, the country’s first leftist president, voiced that the Trump administration may have revoked his visa to attend meetings held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Petro reiterated that the U.S. “may have” revoked his visa — amid rising tensions between the two countries regarding illegal immigration and diplomatic policies.
He is set to be replaced by the new Minister of Finance Germán Avila, who is in Washington, D.C., this week. Avila previously served as the head of Grupo Bicentenario, a state financial conglomerate, and is the founder of Cooperativa Nacional de Ahorro y Credito “Crear Cooperativa,” a financial institution focused on savings and loans for social housing.
“I can’t go anymore because I think they took away my visa,” Petro said at a Cabinet meeting at Casa de Narino, the presidential palace in Bogota, according to the EFE news agency on Monday.
“I didn’t need a visa, but oh well. I’ve seen ‘Donald Duck’ several times, so I’m going to see other things,” he added.
The comments follow prior warnings from the Trump administration, which threatened to revoke visas for high-ranking Colombian officials after Petro’s government had refused to accept flights carrying Colombian nationals who have illegally entered the U.S., especially those with connections to TdA and the country’s cartels.
In September 2024, Petro previously visited the United States for a climate conference in Chicago, as well as the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York.
Despite the fact that he was hosted at the White House by former President Joe Biden in April 2023, there has been ongoing tensions with the Trump administration. The Colombian president first clashed with Trump after he stubbornly blocked two military flights carrying deported Colombian nationals on January 26th.
Trump then responded by threatening to impose a 25% tariff on incoming goods, in addition to visa restrictions and sanctions.
“I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. All “party members, family members, and supporters of the Colombian government also will face visa sanctions,” Trump added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in on the growing diplomatic rift, issuing a statement in which he asserted that President Petro had initially consented to receive the deportation flights — but abruptly rescinded that agreement after the aircraft were already en route.
In retaliation, Petro announced that U.S. imports would face a 25% tax, though he later backed down and agreed to accept the illegal aliens.
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