Colombian President Gustavo Petro has found himself at the centre of a diplomatic dispute with the US after he refused to allow deported nationals into Colombia.
In retaliation, US President Donald Trump ordered sweeping tariffs and sanctions against Colombia on Sunday. The 78-year-old imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Colombian products, which was set to rise to 50 per cent within a week due to the country’s refusal to accept deportation flights. Faced with this pressure, President Petro reversed his decision and agreed to allow the deportees from the US scheduled to arrive on Sunday morning.
Who is Colombian President Gustavo Petro?
- Born in Cienaga de Oro, Gustavo Petro is one of Colombia’s most controversial and influential political figures. He has a degree in economics from Universidad Externado de Colombia and did his further graduate studies at the Escuela Superior de Administracion Publica (ESAP).
- Mr Petro is the first former guerrilla fighter to hold the country’s highest office. He was a member of the M-19 movement, a left-wing guerrilla group that demobilised in the late 1980s. After the group’s disarmament, he transformed his political career and became a prominent voice for social justice and peace.
- In 1985, Mr Petro was arrested by the Colombian army and was sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of illegal arms possession. Following the peace process between the M-19 and the Colombian government, Mr Petro was released, and in 1991, he was elected to the Chamber of Representatives.
- His political career continued to rise. In 2006, he was elected to the Colombian Senate as a member of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) party, securing the second-largest number of votes. In 2011, he made history by winning Bogota’s municipal election and becoming the city’s mayor on January 1, 2012. He remains Colombia’s first ex-guerrilla to hold such an important political position. In 2018, Mr Petro ran for president but failed to get enough votes to secure the position. In 2022, he won the elections and was sworn in as the president on August 7 of that year.
- Mr Petro was involved in the “Nannygate” scandal, concerning his presidential campaign, specifically surrounding his ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, and his chief of staff, Laura Sarabia. The scandal emerged when recordings surfaced of Benedetti and Sarabia discussing potential illicit funding for Petro’s campaign.