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Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said that he had ordered the deployment of military and security forces to the country’s border with Venezuela, following US strikes that US President Donald Trump claimed resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Speaking on Saturday, Petro said that the US’s strike would cause a humanitarian crisis and denounced it as an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America.
While calling for the situation to be resolved through “dialogue”, the leftist leader said in a post on X that he had ordered the “deployment of the security forces” along Colombia’s border with Venezuela to preserve stability.
Petro did not directly mention Maduro’s reported capture, despite the Venezuelan president being one of his closest regional allies.
Earlier, Petro called for an “immediate” meeting of the Organisation of American States and the United Nations to “establish the international legality of the aggression” carried out by the United States.
Colombia currently holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a position that prompted Bogotá’s call for the council’s convening.
Petro has previously criticised US military deployments ordered by Trump in the Caribbean, saying they were unjustified under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
In further social media posts, the Colombian president said additional measures had been put in place to “preserve stability at the border.” An AFP correspondent reported normal conditions at the main border crossing between the two countries.
Colombia’s Defence Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said security forces had activated “all capacities” to prevent “any attempted terrorist attack” by illegal armed groups, including the National Liberation Army.
As part of his anti-drug strategy, Trump has previously said he would not rule out strikes on drug-production laboratories in Colombia — comments Petro at the time condemned as a threat of invasion.
