The Biden years may feel like a fever dream, but rewind the tape and you’ll see that the latest diplomatic firestorm involves a startling clash between Washington and Bogotá. On Sunday, the U.S. State Department confirmed it will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro after he allegedly urged American soldiers to defy orders and embrace violence during an appearance in New York City.
The statement was blunt: “Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.” That kind of language from the State Department doesn’t come lightly, signaling just how seriously the U.S. is taking Petro’s rhetoric.
Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.
We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.
— Department of State (@StateDept) September 27, 2025
Petro’s social media posts hardly calmed the waters. In a rambling message translated from Spanish, he veered from offering “greetings to the Goths” to philosophical musings about freedom, Bolívar’s sword, and the rights of Colombians. But tucked inside the poetic flourishes was a consistent theme: a rejection of President Donald Trump’s hardline stance against Antifa, which Trump officially designated a domestic terrorist group earlier this month.
Cuando Trump ordena considerar que las organizaciones libertarias, son terroristas, está es dinamitando el corazón mismo de la libertad.
Francia entregó mal su regalo. La diosa Libertad está y debe estar en toda la humanidad. https://t.co/FS3qSXZeLz
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 27, 2025
“When Trump orders that libertarian organizations be considered terrorists, he is dynamiting the very heart of freedom itself,” Petro declared. “The goddess of Liberty is and must be in all of humanity.”
The problem for Petro is that the violence tied to Antifa is not abstract. U.S. law enforcement has connected the movement to two recent fatal shootings. In Dallas, a rooftop gunman opened fire on an ICE facility, killing one detainee and critically injuring two others before turning the weapon on himself. His ammunition was scrawled with the words “anti-ICE.” Days later, in Utah, another shooter assassinated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, leaving behind a weapon carved with antifascist symbols, transgender references, and video game markings.
Against that backdrop, Trump has doubled down on security. Federal troops were dispatched to ICE facilities in Portland, while Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed a sweeping crackdown on violent extremists. “Under President Trump’s leadership, there is ZERO TOLERANCE for political violence and domestic terrorism,” she wrote. “If you so much as touch one of our federal officers, you will go to prison.”
Under President Trump’s leadership, there is ZERO TOLERANCE for political violence and domestic terrorism.
I am deploying federal agents to @ICEgov facilities around the country. If you so much as touch one of our federal officers, you will go to prison. pic.twitter.com/TSa5sQQORU
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) September 27, 2025
