The U.S. State Department said Saturday it will revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a rare step against a sitting head of state, after he urged American service members to defy orders during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York on Friday.
In a post on X, the State Department said Petro “urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” calling his actions “reckless and incendiary.” The department added it would revoke his visa as a result, marking an unusual escalation in already strained U.S.–Colombia relations. The announcement was made on the official State Department account on X.
Petro, who had been in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, joined demonstrators outside U.N. headquarters and criticized Washington’s role in the Gaza war. From the rally stage, he said, “Disobey Trump’s order, obey the order of humanity,” while urging U.S. soldiers “not to put your hands against the people.” In his own response posted on X and linked on first mention, Petro wrote after arriving in Bogotá that he “no longer” had a U.S. visa and said he did not care, adding that he could travel under other permissions and that “every human being must be free on earth.”
The visa action follows Petro’s confrontational rhetoric at the U.N. and on the streets, where he labeled Israel’s campaign in Gaza a “genocide” and castigated Washington for vetoing Security Council measures. His appearance alongside demonstrators — including British musician Roger Waters — drew swift condemnation from U.S. officials. Relations between Washington and Bogotá have been tense for months over drug-interdiction policy, deportation enforcement, and Petro’s sharp criticism of U.S. support for Israel.
The immediate legal and diplomatic impact of the revocation was not fully clear. Heads of state typically travel on A-1 visas or comparable diplomatic documents governed by confidentiality rules; the State Department does not ordinarily comment on individual visa records. Still, public announcements of revocation are rare and underscore how the dispute has spilled into open diplomatic reprisal.
The episode unfolded as the United Nations meeting grappled with the Gaza war and access for certain delegations. Earlier this month, the General Assembly voted to allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to address the session by video after the United States declined to grant him a visa to travel to New York, according to the Assembly’s recorded action and contemporaneous reporting by wire services.
Colombia’s government pushed back at home. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, writing on X, argued that if any visa should be revoked it was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, not Petro’s — a reflection of the polarized reaction across Latin America to the war and to Washington’s stance. Colombian media reported that Petro returned to Bogotá late Friday.
Key developments
Sept. 26, 2025 (New York): Petro joins a pro-Palestinian rally during UNGA and urges U.S. soldiers to disobey orders he says would harm civilians in Gaza.
Sept. 27, 2025 (Washington/Bogotá): The State Department publicly announces it will revoke Petro’s visa; Petro says he arrived in Bogotá and dismisses the impact
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