The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, said Monday, April 21 that the United States government withdrew the visa, so he can no longer travel to that country.
“I can no longer go because I think they took my visa. I had no need to have a visa, but well. I already saw Donald duck several times, so I’m going to see other things,” Petro said during a Council of Ministers made in the House of Nariño, headquarters of the Executive.
Petro made reference to the visa by commenting that the Minister of Finance, Germán Ávila, traveled to Washington to participate this week in the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (BM).
The president did not give details about the reasons why, supposedly, the United States canceled the visa; However, before commenting on that situation, he spoke of a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of that country, apparently related to the migratory issue.
“I have to thank a Court of Justice that is from the United States, its Supreme Court, which took out the face for humanity, for democracy and for the foundations of the Republic against the legal thesis of Hitler and Mussolini,” he said.
Petro’s comment was, apparently, on the decision last Saturday of the US Supreme Court.
“Here we have to prepare for things,” added Petro, who has had several disagreements with the Trump administration for the migratory issue.
The most recent was following an interview that the United States National Security Secretary Kristi Noem gave Newsmax.
In that interview, Noem said that during the meeting he had on March 27 with Petro in Bogotá, the president said that “the members of the Aragua train are misunderstood, which were actually only people who needed more love and understanding,” and, according to the official, he added that some “cartel members were his friends.”
Petro replied that “those statements are not true”, which he attributed to a possible translation error. However, he pointed out that, when asked about Noem about what he thought about the Aragua train, he replied that “in Colombia they have been young people excluded by forced migration because they lived well in Venezuela.”
Since he assumed the presidency, on August 7, 2022, Petro has made several trips to the United States to participate in the UN General Assembly in New York, meeting with Joe Biden, the predecessor of Trump, or attending private forums.
If Petro’s version is confirmed, it would be the second Colombian president in exercise to which the US government withdraws the visa.
In mid-1996, the United States withdrew the visa to the then president Ernesto Samper (1994-1998), after he reported that money from drug traffickers entered his electoral campaign.