International news
Published on Tuesday, April 22, 2025
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services

Colombian President Gustavo Petro claims that U.S. officials have revoked his visa, escalating a diplomatic rift between the two nations.

Petro, who became Colombia’s first left-wing president in 2022, made the statement during a televised cabinet meeting convened to address a yellow fever outbreak.

“I can’t go [to the U.S.] anymore because I believe they took away my visa,” Petro said, according to The City Paper Bogota Journal. “I didn’t really need a visa, but anyway, I’ve already seen Donald Duck several times, so I’ll go see other things.”

The alleged visa revocation comes amid recent tensions with the United States. According to a CNN report, in January 2025, a dispute erupted when President Petro refused to allow two previously authorized U.S. military aircraft, each carrying about 80 deported Colombian nationals, to land in Colombia.

The move triggered a strong reaction from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Colombian imports, enforce travel bans and visa revocations for Colombian government officials, and apply heightened customs inspections on Colombian nationals and cargo.

Trump further warned that tariffs would double to 50% if Petro did not reverse the decision within a week. Ultimately, Colombia agreed to accept deported migrants without restrictions, and the punitive measures were not enacted.

As part of the resolution, both countries reached a compromise: Colombia would dispatch its own air force planes to collect the deportees. Petro said the arrangement ensured that the returnees were treated “with dignity” and not subjected to handcuffing.

The U.S. government also made concessions, agreeing not to handcuff or photograph the deportees and to replace military escorts with Homeland Security personnel.

The Colombian president had previously criticized the U.S. military’s involvement in deportation flights, stating, “We are the opposite of the Nazis,” and asserting that he would not “carry out a raid to return handcuffed Americans to the U.S.” On social media, he added, “I do not shake hands with white enslavers,” and questioned whether President Trump was attempting to undermine his presidency.

Petro’s political history includes past ties to the 19th of April Movement (M-19), a leftist guerrilla group he joined in 1977. After his arrest in 1985 for his affiliation with M-19, he was released following the group's peace agreement with the Colombian government. He was elected to the Colombian Chamber of Representatives in 1991 and later served as mayor of Bogotá from 2011 to 2015.

Former Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez has also reportedly had his diplomatic visas to the U.S. revoked.

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Have you heard of other international leaders facing U.S. visa revocations? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com