The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, travels this Sunday to Washington for his crucial meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, who will receive him on Tuesday at the White House with the aim of rebuilding the bilateral relationship deteriorated in the last year by mutual verbal attacks.
Before starting his trip to the U.S. capital, for which he received a special visa after the U.S. State Department canceled it following his inclusion in the so-called 'Clinton list', Petro announced that he met with the head of mission of the U.S. embassy in Colombia, John McNamara.
'I begin my day of intense communication with the U.S. government, with my interview with the U.S. representative of business in Colombia McNamara,' Petro wrote on his X account.
In the post, the Colombian president, without mentioning it, joined the call that Senator Iván Cepeda, a leftist presidential candidate from the ruling Historic Pact, had made on Sunday afternoon, asking his followers to gather on Tuesday in Bogotá while Petro meets with Trump.
'On Tuesday, if it doesn't rain, let Bolívar Square fill up to defend democracy, the vital minimum wage, and the peace of Colombia while I meet with Trump,' Petro wrote.
Meeting after several frictions The meeting between Petro and Trump takes place a year after several disagreements between the two leaders, which began on January 26, 2025, when the Colombian president did not authorize the entry into the country of two flights with migrants from the U.S., denouncing an 'undignified treatment' for his compatriots.
This episode, which almost led to the first tariff war between the U.S. and Colombia due to Trump's threats, was resolved the same day but left a wound in a solid bilateral relationship that grew in the following months.
In addition to migration issues, both leaders have expressed deep differences in matters such as cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking and U.S. actions in Venezuela, including the January 3 attacks in Caracas in which Nicolás Maduro was captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores.
Other topics on the agenda According to the Colombian Presidency, Petro will also develop an agenda in Washington that includes political, academic, business activities, and meetings with the Colombian community in the U.S.
The head of state will give a talk on climate change at Georgetown University and hold meetings with cocoa sector businessmen focused on trade, sustainability, and the international projection of the product.
The agenda also includes meetings with U.S. congressmen to strengthen bilateral political and legislative dialogue, as well as a meeting with the Colombian diaspora at the Martin Luther King library in the U.S. capital.
