Donald Trump canceled a private meeting between New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani and Colombian leader Gustavo Petro.
This was supposed to be New York Mayor Zahran Mamdani’s first meeting with a foreign leader, but President Donald Trump canceled Mamdani’s scheduled meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a fellow democratic socialist.
The Washington Post reported that the Colombian government quietly canceled the meeting after a warning from the US government. The report, citing two people, stated that a meeting was held between American and Colombian officials in Bogota, in which Foreign Ministry officials made it clear that the meeting that took place this week was unacceptable.Petro, who posted the phrase “Heil Hitler” in response to an op-ed supporting a right-wing presidential candidate, came to New York to attend UN events but his private meeting with Mamdani was cancelled.“A visa is a privilege, not a right,” the State Department official said. “Any individual’s visa to the United States is at risk of being revoked if he visits America and disgracefully appeals to American soldiers to disobey the orders of the duly elected President of the United States.”They said that if Petro met with Mamdani, he would have violated visa restrictions imposed on him after he criticized US support for Israel’s war in Gaza.Colombia assumes the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in June.
Although the Trump administration revoked Petro’s visa last year due to his public comments, it continues to allow travel to the United Nations as part of its responsibilities as the host country for the world body’s headquarters. Mamdani and Petro plan to hold a private bilateral meeting followed by a public event.“One does not have to like Gustavo Petro to realize that he is not in the same category as these leaders,” Adam Isaacson, a Colombia expert, told The Washington Post. “If this sets a new precedent for world leaders criticizing this administration for cutting short their visits to the United Nations, they will stop coming.”“He’s not a dictator — his term ends in two months,” Isacson said of Petro. “It appears to be punishing the crime of criticizing the Trump administration.”