Colombian President: Washington is targeting me because of Palestine and my exposure of the role of US intelligence and Israeli spy companies
Colombian President Gustavo Petro revealed the underlying reasons behind the US escalation against him and his country, pointing to his positions on Palestine, as well as the destructive role of US intelligence in his country.
“Today, they are placing me on the OFAC sanctions list because I told the Colombian people that the CIA paid the Israeli company Pegasus to circumvent Colombian law in Colombian territory to intercept communications,” Petro said in a statement.
He continued, “The CIA committed a crime in Colombia that is not permitted by Colombian law”.
In 2024, Petro revealed that the Colombian Police Intelligence Directorate (DIPOL) had purchased the Israeli spyware app Pegasus in 2021, amid nationwide protests against former President Iván Duque and his economic policies.
But what’s new in what the Colombian president spoke about today is the role of US intelligence, which colluded with the Israeli spy company to target Colombia.
Regarding his inclusion on the OFAC sanctions list, Petro said: “I’ve never conducted any business, I do not have a single dollar in the United States, and there is no account to freeze”.
He pointed out that the gist of what’s happening today internationally is that the US government has decided to choose the mafia as its ally in Colombia, and has attacked those who were attacking the mafia in an effort to stop American society itself from consuming so much cocaine.
He pointed out that fake businessmen and politicians have urged the far right in the United States to impose sanctions on Colombia and its president, addressing US President Donald Trump, saying: “Mr. Trump, the fake businessmen and politicians who have now become your allies are the Colombian mafia”.
He emphasized that the pretext of combating drugs concocted by the United States, which hasn’t reduced cocaine consumption by a single gram in major US cities, is in reality a program for colonial control over Latin American countries.
He emphasized that Latin America will always be free, independent, and sovereign.
Among the underlying reasons behind the US escalation against his country, the Colombian president said, is Colombia’s position on and condemnation of the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.
He added, “Trump and Netanyahu felt completely alone at the United Nations, because humanity despised them, separated from them, and told them we don’t obey the perpetrators of genocide”.
In this context, he continued, saying: “And I, on behalf of the entire Colombian people, planted a small seed in the struggle waged by the world for all of humanity to stop the genocide, and I believe we have stopped the genocide”.
He pointed out that “the Trump administration shouldn’t be responded to by kneeling, but rather by responding to it as humanity has already done, by standing firm and taking to the streets to defend people’s rights and democracy”.
In a supportive stance, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its rejection of the US measures imposed on the Colombian president, describing them as illegal, illegitimate, and neocolonial in nature, violating international law and the UN Charter.
Caracas said that these measures aimed to criminalize President Petro and undermine internal stability in Colombia, stressing that Petro is the only Colombian leader who has directly confronted drug trafficking networks.
On Friday evening, the US Treasury Department issued a decision to place the Colombian president, his family, and other Colombian government officials on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions list.
The move sparked sharp criticism from Latin American countries, who described the measure as blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state.
