Colombia's Petro Says He Would 'Take Up Arms Again' to Defend Country From Trump Threats

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that he would be willing to take up arms again if necessary to defend Colombia's sovereignty, responding to what he described as threats from U.S. President Donald Trump amid escalating tensions following Washington's military operation in Venezuela that resulted in Nicolás Maduro's capture.

In a post on X, Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, said he had sworn never to carry a weapon again after the 1989 peace agreement but suggested that commitment could change. "Although I have not been a soldier, I know war and clandestinity," Petro wrote. "I swore not to touch a weapon again after the 1989 peace pact, but for the homeland I would take up arms again, even if I do not want to."

Petro framed his remarks as a response to statements made by Trump over the weekend, when the U.S. president told reporters that Colombia, like Venezuela, was "very sick" and claimed it was governed by "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States." Asked whether the United States could carry out an operation in Colombia, Trump replied: "Sounds good to me."

Calling Trump's comments an "illegitimate threat," Petro defended his government's record on counternarcotics operations, saying Colombia had carried out military actions "respecting all the norms of international humanitarian law" and had overseen the largest cocaine seizures in the country's history. He warned that indiscriminate bombing without sufficient intelligence could lead to civilian deaths, including children recruited by armed groups.

"If you bomb one of these groups without enough intelligence, you will kill many children," Petro wrote. "If you bomb peasants, thousands will become guerrillas in the mountains."

In the same message, Petro rejected remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggesting divisions between Colombia's president and its security forces, stressing that under Colombia's constitution the president is the supreme commander of the military and police. Petro said he had removed senior police intelligence officers for allegedly providing false information about the state.

Petro also urged Colombians to defend democratic institutions against what he described as illegitimate external actions, while ordering security forces not to fire on civilians. "I trust my people," he wrote, adding that Colombia would remain "free forever."