WASHINGTON.- The president of the United States, Donald Trump, This Wednesday, October 22, he described his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, from “thug”. He also assured that his country interrupted all financing to Colombia.
“He is a thug and a bad guy,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about Petro’s criticism. He added: “As of today we have interrupted all payments to Colombia.”
Last Sunday, October 19, in a message on the Truth Social network, the Republican president announced that he was going to cancel all aid to Colombia, a country that for decades was the United States’ greatest military ally against the drug trafficking in Latin America.
“He better take care of himself, because we will take very serious actions against him and his country,” Trump said in reference to Petro. He also maintained that the Colombian president “has led his country into a death trap.”
The increase in bilateral tension occurred after Petro questioned the United States attack on a boat transporting drugs and carrying Colombian citizens. The Colombian president denounced violation of the sovereignty of his country’s territorial waters and the “murder” of the boat’s crew.
“Petro is a drug trafficking leader who promotes the mass production of drugs, both in large and small fields, throughout Colombia,” Trump later claimed.
Petro says he will defend himself
“Of the slander that senior officials have hurled at me in the territory of the United States; I will defend myself judicially with American lawyers.” in American justice”wrote Petro in X after Trump’s new accusations.
A legal action by the Colombian president would face challenges in the US courts. Trump has presidential immunity and the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, which would make a defamation or slander lawsuit difficult.
