Any president can be removed if they refuse to align with certain interests
In the days following the American seizure of Nicolás Maduro, Colombian President Gustavo Petro confronted a question that has haunted leaders across the Global South for generations: how sovereign is a sovereign nation when a greater power decides otherwise? Speaking openly about his fear of a similar fate, Petro described a phone call with Donald Trump in which military plans against Colombia were disclosed, and suggested that conversation may have, for now, cooled the threat. His story is one of a leader navigating the narrow corridor between defiance and survival, armed with little more than the loyalty of his people and the hope that unity — within Colombia, within Latin America — might yet serve as a shield.
- Days after Maduro was seized and flown to New York, Petro said without hesitation that he believed he could be next — that no president is safe if they refuse to serve the right interests.
- Trump told Petro directly during a January 7th phone call that military operations inside Colombia were already being planned, a warning that landed somewhere between diplomacy and threat.
- Petro believes the conversation cooled the immediate danger, describing the threats as 'frozen' — but he admitted he could be wrong, and the uncertainty has not left him.
- Colombia has no air defense system, never having needed one against foreign forces, leaving Petro with a stark admission: his only real protection is the mobilization of his own people.
- Watching Venezuela fracture after Maduro's capture, Petro urged Latin American unity and warned that a divided people invites colonization — while acknowledging his vision for Venezuela differs from Washington's only in method, not outcome.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro sat down with Spain's El País this Friday and said what few heads of state would say aloud: he feared the United States might come for him the way it had come for Nicolás Maduro, seized by American authorities on January 3rd and flown to New York to face federal charges. Asked directly whether he thought his fate could mirror Maduro's, Petro did not hesitate. Any president, he said, could be removed if they refused to align with certain interests — and the interests he meant were unmistakable.
What shifted the temperature, Petro suggested, was a phone call. On January 7th, he spoke with Donald Trump, who told him that military operations inside Colombia were already being prepared — that 'bad things' were being readied. After that conversation, Petro believed the threat had been 'frozen.' But he was careful to add that he might be wrong. The fear had not fully dissolved.
What struck him most, reflecting on his own vulnerability, was how exposed Colombia truly was. The country has no air defense system — it was never built because Colombia's wars were always internal, fought in jungles against guerrilla movements, not against foreign air forces. With nowhere to hide and no shield in the sky, Petro said his only real defense was his people. He had already called for popular resistance, a mobilization of civilians as the last line of sovereignty.
Petro also spoke of Venezuela, where his friend Delcy Rodríguez had assumed the interim presidency after Maduro's capture. He believed Latin America's unity was more critical than ever, and warned that a divided people would be colonized. There was an irony he acknowledged quietly: what he hoped for Venezuela — political resolution from within — was not so different from what Washington wanted. The difference, he insisted, was everything: change imposed from outside is not change at all. That distinction — between outcome and method — may be the only ground left on which a leader like Petro can stand.
Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, sat down with Spain's El País newspaper on Friday and said plainly: yes, he feared the United States would come for him the way it had come for Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan leader had been seized by American authorities just days earlier, on January 3rd, and flown to New York to face federal charges. Petro's fear was not abstract. He believed he could be next.
When asked directly if he thought his fate might mirror Maduro's, Petro did not hedge. "Without question," he said. He went further: any president in the world could be removed from power if that president refused to align with certain interests. The implication hung in the air—the interests of the United States, the power that could reach across borders and take you.
But something had shifted, Petro suggested, and it came down to a phone call. On Wednesday, January 7th, he spoke with Donald Trump. During that conversation, Trump told him something stark: the Americans were already preparing something, already planning a military operation inside Colombia. Trump, by Petro's account, was warning him—or perhaps threatening him—that "bad things" were being readied. The message was unmistakable. Troops were being positioned. Plans were being drawn.
After that call, Petro believed the temperature had dropped. The threats, he said, had been "frozen." But he added a caveat that suggested he did not fully trust his own assessment: he could be wrong about this. The fear might return. The operation might still come.
What struck Petro as remarkable, when he reflected on it, was how exposed Colombia actually was. The country had no air defense system. None. It had never been built because the wars Colombia fought were internal—guerrilla movements in the jungle, not foreign air forces. The army did not have F-16s to shoot down incoming aircraft. There was no shield in the sky. When asked why he had not reinforced his security after learning of the military plans, Petro's answer was almost philosophical: there was nowhere to hide. His only real defense, he said, was his people. On Wednesday, he had called for popular resistance—a mobilization of civilians as a bulwark against whatever might come.
Petro's thoughts on Venezuela revealed the bind he was in. He had spoken recently with Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's vice president, who had assumed the interim presidency after Maduro's capture. Petro said they were friends. Rodríguez was under siege from all sides—internal accusations of betrayal, external pressure from Washington. She understood, Petro believed, that Latin America needed to strengthen its unity. But her first task had to be healing Venezuela itself. A divided people, Petro warned, would be colonized. Only if Venezuelans united and sought a political solution to their crisis could they move forward.
There was an irony in Petro's position that he acknowledged but did not dwell on: his view of what should happen in Venezuela was not so different from what the United States was pushing for. The difference, he insisted, was that such change could not be imposed from outside. It had to come from within, from the people themselves. That distinction—between outcome and method, between what happens and how it happens—might be the only space left where a president like Petro could maneuver, caught between the weight of American power and the sovereignty he was trying to preserve.
Notable Quotes
Without question, I feared the same fate as Maduro. Any president in the world can be removed if they do not align with certain interests.— Gustavo Petro, Colombian President
Trump told me they were already preparing something, planning a military operation in Colombia.— Gustavo Petro, recounting his conversation with Trump
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When Trump told you he was planning military operations in Colombia, what exactly did you understand him to mean?
That they had already begun preparing something. Not a vague threat—concrete plans, positioning, readiness. He was telling me what was coming.
And you believed him?
I had to. A president of the United States does not say such things casually. But I also understood he was giving me a chance to change course, to align differently.
Did you consider leaving the country?
Where would I go? And to what end? My legitimacy is here, with my people. Without them, I am nothing.
You said Colombia has no air defense. That seems like an extraordinary vulnerability to admit publicly.
It is the truth. We built our military for internal conflict, not invasion. But that truth also matters—it tells you what kind of nation we are, what we can and cannot do.
Do you think the phone call actually changed Trump's mind, or did it just buy you time?
I believe the threats are frozen. But frozen is not the same as gone. Ice melts.