Colombian President Gustavo Petro has issued a challenge to US President Donald Trump following a United States operation in Venezuela. On Monday, Petro criticized the operation and addressed Trump with the statement, “Come get me. I'm waiting for you here.”
“If they [the US] bombs, the campesinos will become thousands of guerrillas in the mountains. And if they detain the president which a large part of the country loves and respects, they will unleash the 'jaguar' of the people,” Petro warned the POTUS after US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“I swore not to touch a weapon again ... but for the homeland I will take up arms again,” he added.
Reacting to Petro's remark, one X user wrote: “Maduro gave the same speech!”
“Yea Maduro said the same thing. It is not impossible,” another said.
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White House mocks Maduro
Petro's statement comes as White House mocked Maduro, saying: “Nicolas Maduro had his chance — until he didn’t.”
{{/usCountry}}Petro's statement comes as White House mocked Maduro, saying: “Nicolas Maduro had his chance — until he didn’t.”
{{/usCountry}}This was in reference to a similar dare Maduro made to Trump in August. In a challenge to the US President, he said, “come and get me”.
“Come get me. I will wait for him here in Miraflores. Don't be late, coward,” Petro asserted in a passionate speech in August following the increase in the reward offered by the US for information that could lead to his capture.
The clip shared by White House presented a compilation of Maduro mocking the US alongside footage of the operation aimed at apprehending the Venezuelan leader and his spouse, Cilia Flores.
The 61-second segment additionally included excerpts from Trump's press conference regarding the strikes in Venezuela, where US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth remarked that Maduro “had his chance – until he didn't”.
Rising conflict between US and Colombia
The tension between the US and Colombia escalated when Trump told journalists on Sunday that Colombia is governed by a man who is trafficking drugs to the United States.
"Colombia is very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he's not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you," Trump stated after Maduro's capture.
He went on to warn Petro saying that launching an operation against Colombia “sounds good” to him.