Gustavo Petro has said that the Trump administration’s unprecedented intervention – including the kidnapping of Maduro – risks a historic backlash.
Latin America may explode “Rebellion” Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has warned that action will be taken against the US if it does not reconsider its approach in the region, citing the raid on Caracas and the kidnapping of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
In an interview with El Pais published on Saturday, Petro criticized US sanctions against him, characterizing them as a tool of political extortion, and comparing Washington’s approach to colonialism.
The US Treasury blacklisted Petrou, his wife, son and the interior minister in October 2025, citing their alleged involvement in the global drug trade. The US had made similar allegations against Maduro before his kidnapping in the US attack on Caracas in early January. Both Petro and Maduro have vehemently denied the allegations.
“This tool to fight drug trafficking is used as a mechanism of extortion against those of us who express different political views. It’s a system that the King of Spain had centuries ago. And what was the Latin American response? Revolt. It will happen now if the U.S. government is not able to rethink its relationship with Latin America,” Petro said.
The Colombian president noted the global shock caused by Maduro’s kidnapping. “They torture you and threaten to take you to the United States, like they did to Maduro,” Petro said, Caracas became “The first Latin American city to be bombed in its history.”
“It has created a wound that the current rulers accept with fear… and they succumb to it.” He added.
In a separate interview with El País, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also criticized the Trump administration’s approach to global politics, though his focus was more on the Iran war.
He said, Trump is “Playing a very dangerous game,” Operating on the basis that American power dictates the rules of the game. “But that can’t happen, because ultimately, it creates problems for America,” He warned.
Lula said that the US President “You have no right to wake up in the morning and threaten a country.”
The Brazilian president has been one of the most vocal critics of Maduro’s kidnapping, saying it crossed the line “An unacceptable line” And “Recalls the worst moments of interference in Latin American politics.”
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