 "Colombian President Petro vows to ‘take up arms’ after Trump threats, defends anti-drug record")
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday he would “take up arms” in response to threats from US President Donald Trump, following a weekend military strike in which Washington seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Petro, a former guerrilla who has long faced insults and threats from Trump, wrote on X, “I swore not to touch a weapon again… but for the homeland I will take up arms again.”
Trump also threatened other countries and implied military action in Colombia, telling reporters on Air Force One that the country is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
In response, Petro defended his government’s record on combatting drug trafficking.
In a nearly 700-word post on X early Monday, he highlighted his administration’s achievements, including “the largest cocaine seizure in the world’s history and taking control of El Plateado - ‘The Cocaine Wall Street’ that previous governments had allowed to flourish.”
He added, “I am not illegitimate, nor am I a narco, I only have as assets my family home that I still pay for with my salary. My bank statements have been published. Nobody can say that I have spent more than my salary. I am not greedy.”
Petro said he has ordered targeted bombings against drug-linked armed groups while adhering to humanitarian law and cautioned against attacking such groups without sufficient intelligence.
Regarding Trump’s remarks, he said he would respond once he has reviewed the translation and “knows the true meaning.”
Petro has also sharply criticised the Trump administration’s actions in the region, accusing Washington of abducting Maduro “without legal basis.”
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