Washington [US], January 9: United States President Donald Trump has invited Colombian leader Gustavo Petro to the White House, days after accusing him of trafficking cocaine and threatening military action against his government.
The sudden detente on Wednesday followed an hour-long phone call between Trump and Petro, in which the two leaders discussed "the situation of drugs" and "other disagreements", according to the US president.
It was their first call since Trump's threat of a military operation in Colombia following the US's abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a brazen attack on Caracas on Saturday. The warnings prompted Petro to issue a call for Colombians to take to the streets to defend their sovereignty.
"It was a Great Honour to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"I appreciated his call and tone and look forward to meeting him in the near future." Trump added "arrangements are being made" for a meeting in Washington between himself and Petro, but gave no specific date for a meeting.
Petro, Colombia's first left-wing president, addressed demonstrators who had heeded his call for protests at Bogota's Plaza Bolivar following the call with Trump. He said a detente was under way and that he had to change his speech at the last minute. "If we don't speak, there is war. Colombia's history has taught us that," the former rebel fighter said.
"And what happened is that we talked and re-established communication for the first time. I talked about two things: Venezuela and the issue of drug trafficking," he said. "I gave him our numbers of what we are doing to fight drugs."Petro also accused Colombian politicians of misleading Trump. "Those [people] are responsible for this crisis - let's call it diplomatic for now, verbal for now - that has erupted between the US and Colombia," he said.
Source: Qatar Tribune
