Category World News

In response to threats from US President Donald Trump, Colombia’s foreign minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio has warned that her nation would respond to any violation of its sovereignty with a military coup.

Villavicencio made the point that, in the event of an attack, nations have the right to self-defense under international law.

The military must defend the country’s sovereignty and the national territory, she said.

Her remarks come as Latin America struggles to cope with the aftermath of the US military’s Saturday attack, which left Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores dead and in the hands of the country.

Trump outlined the Western Hemisphere as his sphere of influence in an announcement on Saturday, citing the region’s influence in particular.

Trump praised the “great dominance” of the US, noting that “we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”

He added that anyone who threatens or threatens American lives should be warned about the military operation.

Venezuela and Colombia as a parallel?

Trump has disputed the claim that Maduro was the head of a Venezuelan drug-trafficking network, and he has blamed him for causing thousands of overdose deaths in the US.

Trump compared Venezuela to Colombia, its neighbor and the world’s top cocaine producer, on Sunday while he was on Air Force One.

It’s very sick, Venezuela. In an apparent reference to Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro, Trump said, “Columbia is very sick, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.” Let me tell you, “He won’t be doing it for very long.”

Trump responded, “So there would be an operation by the US,” to the question that one reporter had posed.

Petro’s administration has long praised its efforts to stop cocaine trafficking by destroying the labs where it is produced and intercepting shipments.

Petro celebrated the largest cocaine seizure in a decade last November when 14 tons, valued at nearly $ 388.9 million, were sequestered as it arrived at Buenaventura’s port on the Pacific Ocean.

Despite Trump’s claims that Petro is a drug dealer, there is no proof Petro is involved in any drug trafficking.

Petro criticized the Republican leader for his hardline immigration policies, his support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, and his deadly attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, but they have since exchanged barbs.

Trump has responded by imposing sanctions on Petro, removing his US visa in September, and imposing sanctions on him in October.

rhetoric that erupts

Petro will become the first left-wing leader to lead Colombia’s government in 2026.

He denounced Venezuela’s US attack and warned that Latin America must unite to protect its interests.

In all of human history, the US is the first nation to bomb a South American capital, according to Petro.

Because South Americans will not forget it for generations, what a terrible distinction that is. The wound is still there for a long time.

Later, he made mention of his involvement in Colombia’s six-decade-long internal armed conflict while fighting as a rebel in his teens and 20s. If Colombia were to face international attacks, he suggested that he would reload his weapons.

Petro posted on social media that he swore not to touch any weapon since the 1989 peace agreement, but that he will do so for the sake of the country.

In a statement, Villavicencio emphasized that Colombia is “addressing drug trafficking with rigor, sacrifice, and a comprehensive approach.”

She added that her ministry rejects any threats to Colombia’s democratically elected president as well as to its sovereignty on Tuesday.

She said, “An offence against the president is an offence against our country and a disregard for all democratic processes that we have engaged in.”

During a protest and film screening, Israeli forces launched live ammunition at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank. As troops entered the campus and classrooms, at least three students suffered injuries.

Children who were forced to leave their homes as a result of Sudan’s war have been denied access to health care and are residing in camps without clean water. Bilharzia, a parasitic worm that lives in infected water, is now the cause of their children and some of the elderly’s deaths. This report was submitted by Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Vall from the White Nile State camp for Khor Ajwal.

I was elected president of the renowned debating organization Oxford Union in December 2025. I became the first Palestinian to serve this position in the institution’s 203-year history.

In a vote that saw turnout far exceed recent contests, I won the presidency by a sizable margin. I was open about my history as a Palestinian from Gaza throughout my campaign and how my understanding of the value of debate and representation has changed as a result. However, that candor quickly grew to be used to refute my constant claims.

Early press reports questioned my suitability for office solely on the basis of who I am rather than engaging with my stated platform or record. The goal was simple: to portray me as a radical, extremist, and inherently suspect.

These reports did not simply emerge. I was cast as an extremist and security concern during a wider smear campaign that came with my presidential campaign. Within that frame, false rumors started to spread that students who supported my campaign could face consequences, including visa suspension, placement on security watchlists, or formal investigations. None of this was ever proven to be true.

I’ve always anticipated a certain hostility in student politics. I was shocked by how frequently supposedly trustworthy outlets adopted these stories without doing basic due diligence, and occasionally even went as far as to claim that I was unfit for office.

A month after I had already been covered by the Jerusalem Post, I received an email from the Jewish Chronicle asking for my opinion on a pending article. In reality, the email contained a number of claims and insinuations that were presented as evidence of extremism, albeit in a “right of reply” context. A rumored family connection to a Hamas member was the most obvious of these.

Mohammed Al-Rayis, a man who was killed in a drone attack by Israel in Beirut in January 2024, was the subject of the claim. He and I are not related. One of the most prevalent first names in the Arab world and a Palestinian family name that was widely accepted were the guiding factors in the formulation of the suggestion. Mohammed Elrayess, my father, is a scientist at Qatar University and still lives.

Other issues that were raised in the same email included reframed, questionable descriptions of my speech and activities, rather than allegations of any kind of wrongdoing.

One of the posts, which I shared on social media, expressed my sadness over the death of Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi, who was killed in Gaza in October 2025, shortly after the announcement of the most recent “ceasefire.” Aljafarawi was described as a “Hamas propagandist” by the Jewish Chronicle journalist in the email.

The Israeli assault on Gaza has been the most deadly conflict for journalists ever. In my post, I defended the right to press freedom and paid tribute to a journalist who was killed while serving.

Another concern was my involvement in a documentary I helped to produce called Heart of a Protest, which followed pro-Palestine demonstrations in the UK. Protesters were able to explain why they continued to mobilize and the challenges they faced in doing so in a budget-friendly movie. Families in Gaza received the majority of the proceeds.

Another area of attack was made on a speech I delivered at the Oxford Union in November 2024, which declared, “This house believes that Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide.” The substance of my statement was not important to me. My participation itself was the object.

I’m proud that I spoke during the debate to refute the claims that the Gaza genocide was justified or supported. I’m pleased that I was able to address my relative, Maisara Al-Rayis, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home with his family. I’ll accept it without a second thought if that’s an allegation.

These attack patterns don’t reflect strength in my opinion. They show weakness. There would be no need to redefine legitimate political expression as evidence of extremism or to imply guilt through invented family associations if the concerns raised about me were genuine and if I really posed a threat to the institution I currently lead.

These discrediting attempts are part of a wider campaign to silence Palestinians in public space and completely deter Palestinian participation. They are intended to avert us.

They won’t, either.

Let there be a thousand articles written to defame or mischaracterize us. We are far past the point where silence can be stoked by this. In fact, it makes speaking even more urgent.