This President Boldly Calls the US "Coloniser", Warns of Major Uprising
Relations between the United States and Latin America are now on the brink of a very serious collapse. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has warned that the region could soon erupt in a major uprising against Washington.
Petro delivered this strong warning in an in-depth interview with El Pais media, published on Saturday (18/4/2026). He views Washington’s sanctions policy not as law enforcement but as a tool of political extortion resembling colonialism.
“The instruments to combat drug trafficking are used as a mechanism of extortion against those of us who express differing political views. This is a system like that of the Spanish King centuries ago,” Petro stated in the interview, also quoted by Russia Today.
This tension peaked after the US Department of the Treasury blacklisted Petro and his family in October 2025. The US accused them of involvement in global drug trafficking, a charge also levelled against Nicolas Maduro before the Venezuelan leader was kidnapped in a US attack in Caracas last January.
“And what is Latin America’s response? Uprising. That will happen now if the US government cannot rethink its relationship with Latin America,” Petro asserted.
Petro also highlighted the global shock from Maduro’s kidnapping, accompanied by bombings in Venezuela’s capital. He described Caracas as the first Latin American city in history to be bombed.
“They pursue you and threaten to take you to the United States, as they did to Maduro,” Petro said.
The Colombian President added that such military actions have created deep wounds among leaders in the region. He sees many current rulers feeling threatened and forced to submit to Washington’s pressure.
“This has created a wound received by current rulers with fear, and they kneel before it,” he added.
Similar criticism came from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who highlighted Donald Trump’s leadership style. Lula views Trump as playing a dangerous game by assuming US power can dictate all rules.
“But that must not happen, because in the end, it creates problems for the US,” Lula warned.
Lula emphasised that armed interventions and unilateral threats against sovereign nations are unacceptable boundary violations. In his view, such actions revive dark memories of the worst past interventions.
“The US President has no right to wake up in the morning and threaten a country,” Lula concluded.