Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday that he is ready to “take up arms” against the US after President Trump threatened military action in Colombia.
Following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro over the weekend, Trump suggested Colombia and Petro may be America’s next target to curb drug trafficking in the region, leading Petro to issue a stark warning.
“I swore not to touch a weapon again since the 1989 Peace Pact, but for the homeland, I will take up arms again,” Petro wrote on X.
The Colombian president, who has clashed with Trump in the past, claimed his administration was the key force suppressing illegal drug trade in the country, telling Trump an attack on him would only embolden the cartel.
Petro also warned Trump that bombing the cartels would endanger children and civilians that the groups use as human shields, which would spark a humanitarian crisis.
“If you bomb even one of these groups without sufficient intelligence, you will kill many children,” Petro said. “If you bomb peasants, thousands of guerrillas will return in the mountains.
“And if you arrest the president whom a good part of my people want and respect, you will unleash the popular jaguar,” he added, referencing the Colombian people.
