Colombian President Gustavo Petro is heading to Washington for a high-stakes trip to meet US President Donald Trump, the first in-person meeting between the two after months of escalating tensions and angry rhetoric.
Venezuela, drug trafficking, oil, security and US strikes on alleged drug vessels will be high on the agenda when they meet at the White House on Tuesday.
While the two men were cordial in a phone call after the 3 January US military operation to seize Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, Petro has since said he believes that there is a “real threat” of military action against Colombia.
Trump, for his part, has previously said that a military operation in Colombia “sounds good”.
Tuesday’s meeting follows months of the two leaders trading barbs – with Petro repeatedly criticising the repeat US strikes on the alleged drugs boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, as well as the White House’s immigration policies.
In an interview with the BBC last month, Petro went as far as to compare US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to “Nazi brigades” and accused the US of treating other countries as part of its “empire”.
