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.
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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.”
Source: Aljazeera
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