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Colombian President Gustavo Petro and U.S President Donald Trump inside the White House. Photo: The White House

U.S. prosecutors probe Colombia’s Petro over alleged narco links, NYT reports

By The City Paper Staff - March 20, 2026

U.S. federal prosecutors have opened preliminary criminal investigations into Colombian President Gustavo Petro over alleged links to drug traffickers and possible illicit financing of his 2022 campaign, according to a report by The New York Times. The previously undisclosed probes are being conducted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Brooklyn and involve specialists in international […]

Petro and Trump: What next in U.S.–Colombia relations?

By Richard Emblin - February 9, 2026

Nearly a week after Donald Trump hosted Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, at the White House, calm has returned to a bilateral relationship that only recently appeared headed for rupture. The insults have stopped. The social media theatrics have faded. Diplomacy, not spectacle, is back in charge. This alone tells us that both governments have agreed […]

All That Glitters Isn’t Trump Nor Petro

By Richard Emblin - February 5, 2026

Colombian President Gustavo Petro appeared on Tuesday to melt into the gilded woodwork of the Oval Office, wearing a gold tie and an uncharacteristically sober dark suit. Seated beside U.S. President Donald Trump, the two-hour meeting appeared—at least on the surface—to be a cordial encounter between political adversaries entrenched on opposite sides of the ideological […]

President Gustavo Petro announced Tuesday that his trip to the White House on February 3 will benefit the "life of humanity". Photo: Presidencia

Colombia’s Petro claims U.S. “kidnapped” Maduro during Caracas strike

By The City Paper Staff - January 28, 2026

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday that Nicolás Maduro should be returned to Venezuela to face trial in his home country, calling the U.S. military operation that captured the ousted leader in Caracas earlier this month a “kidnapping” that violated Venezuelan sovereignty. “They have to return him and have him tried by a Venezuelan […]

U.S President Donald Trump and his AI image of Canada, Venezuela and Greenland with the U.S flag. Photo: Truth Social

Trump shows AI map with Canada, Greenland and Venezuela under U.S flag.

By The City Paper Staff - January 20, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was “no going back” on his goal to bring Greenland under U.S. control, refusing to rule out the use of force and escalating tensions with European allies already bracing for a renewed transatlantic trade dispute. Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts featuring AI-generated images, […]

Senior cabinet members have been barred from U.S. after Petro’s defiant rally near Times Square, New York. Photo: X/MinCultura.

Vocal on Gaza, Petro’s Silence on Iran Is Hypocrisy Incarnate

By Opinion Desk - January 15, 2026

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has made Gaza the moral centerpiece of his foreign policy. Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, he has devoted extraordinary political capital to denouncing Israel, questioning its right to self-defense, and framing the Gaza war as a singular global emergency. He summoned “Free Palestine” marches, spent public funds hosting […]

Right-wing candidate De la Espriella leads Colombia presidential race, shows latest poll

By Richard Emblin - January 13, 2026

Far-right independent candidate Abelardo De la Espriella, widely known by the nickname “El Tigre” (The Tiger), has taken the lead in Colombia’s presidential race five months ahead of the election, according to a new poll by AtlasIntel published by Semana magazine. The survey places De la Espriella, founder of the pro-democracy movement Defensores de la […]

Petro Calls Colombians to the Streets After Trump Raises Military Option

By The City Paper Staff - January 7, 2026

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called on supporters to mobilise nationwide on Wednesday to defend “national sovereignty,” sharply escalating a diplomatic crisis with the United States after President Donald Trump said a U.S. military operation against Colombia “sounds good” to him. The demonstrations are expected to take place in Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar, Parque Lourdes […]

Democracy Deferred: Did Washington Abandon María Corina Machado?

By Richard Emblin - January 5, 2026

The extraction of Nicolás Maduro on Saturday was meant to signal the end of an era. Instead, it has exposed an uncomfortable truth that may loom over Washington weeks and months after the “shock-and-awe” attacks in central Caracas have waned from headlines: was Venezuela’s democratic opposition sidelined at the very moment it appeared closest to […]

Trump floats U.S. military action against Colombia after Maduro capture

By The City Paper Staff - January 5, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated rhetoric toward Colombia on Sunday, suggesting that a U.S. military operation against the country — which he said could be dubbed “Operation Colombia” — was a possibility following Washington’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump described Colombian President Gustavo Petro as “a […]

Trump praises “brilliant” military operation against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

By Richard Emblin - January 3, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “brilliant” the U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, as explosions were reported in Caracas early Saturday. Governments across the Americas and Europe are reacting to the arrest of the Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. In a brief telephone interview with […]

BREAKING: Venezuela’s Maduro captured after U.S strikes Caracas

By The City Paper Staff - January 3, 2026

The United States has captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife Cilia Flores, after a series of targeted military strikes on Caracas at 1:30 am on Saturday, January 3, 2026. In a statement posted on his Truth Social platform, U.S President Donald J. Trump said U.S. forces, working with U.S. law enforcement, conducted […]

Stain on Hay: Should María Corina Machado Refuse the Literary Festival?

By Richard Emblin - December 17, 2025

For a literary festival, silence can be more revealing than speech. The decision by three writers to withdraw from the 2026 Hay Festival in Cartagena over the presence of María Corina Machado, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the most prominent figure in Venezuela’s democratic opposition, has exposed a paradox at the heart of […]

Black-market will push Venezuela for bigger discounts following US oil tanker seizure

By The Conversation - December 15, 2025

The U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast appears designed to further squeeze the economy of President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The Dec. 10, 2025 operation — in which American forces descended from helicopters onto the vessel — followed months of U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and was immediately condemned by Venezuela […]

EU Leaders Ditch Santa Marta Summit With U.S. Sanctions on Petro

By Richard Emblin - November 4, 2025

The upcoming EU-CELAC summit in Santa Marta, billed as Colombia’s most ambitious diplomatic event in over a decade, is now being reshaped by a cascade of cancellations from European leaders following U.S. sanctions against President Gustavo Petro. What was expected to unite more than 60 heads of state from Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean […]

Did Venezuela’s ex-spymaster Hugo Carvajal Spark OFAC Sanctions Against Petro?

By The City Paper Staff - October 27, 2025

The U.S. Treasury’s unprecedented decision to sanction Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his inner circle has sparked speculation that recent testimony by Venezuela’s former spy chief, Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal, may have cemented the move. Carvajal, once a powerful general in Hugo Chávez’s intelligence services, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism […]