The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has stated feeling “betrayed” by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, who promised not to intervene in the country’s internal affairs, by supporting the opposition candidate, Abelardo de la Espriella. “He must leave the Colombian people free to vote,” he said.
“He betrays the agreement he made with me in my personal conversation, which was not to intervene in Colombia,” the Colombian president said in an interview on his country’s public television, in which he suggested that sovereignty would be lost if De la Espriella wins in the second round.
Petro criticized that the president of the United States has been threatening to bomb, “humiliating peoples,” and wanting to end International Law. “The flag of Colombia (…) I did not hand it over to Mr. Trump (…) I keep this flag, and I defend it, to the death,” he emphasized.
“If Colombia wants to change this flag, well I cannot oppose it. But I believe that the majority of Colombians do not change this flag for another. I am not going to change it,” the president stressed.
The president took the opportunity to again emphasize the possibility that irregularities occurred during the first round and explained that the authorities have the appropriate devices to record them. “They said we were going to commit fraud, nonsense,” he said.
As has happened in other electoral processes in Latin America since he returned to the White House in January 2025, Trump has also interfered in these elections in Colombia by publicly supporting the far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, whom he has praised lavishly.
“An intelligent, strong, and tenacious leader,” he said of De la Espriella, also warning that “the results of these elections are very important for the future of Colombia and its relationship with the United States.”
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