The statement by Colombian President Gustavo Petro comes after Washington kidnapped Venezuela\u2019s leader and threatened Cuba<\/p>\n
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has cautioned the US administration against trying to build \u201can empire\u201d in Latin America, urging Washington to pursue dialogue rather than military intervention.
\nPetro\u2019s remarks came after the US intervened in Venezuela in January, when US forces seized President Nicolas Maduro in a raid in Caracas, and amid repeated warnings from Washington about possible \u201cregime change\u201d in Cuba.
\nLatin America is not a \u201cland to be conquered,\u201d the Colombian president said in an interview with Politico published on Thursday. \u201cI believe that there are people in the US government who think similarly: that instead of imposing an empire from which Cubans always liberate themselves, what is ultimately needed is to establish a dialogue between the Americas and include Cuba in the world of fiber optics and clean energy,\u201d Petro said.
\nThe head of state also leveled criticism at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Trump adviser and billionaire Elon Musk. He accused both of promoting a vision of a \u201cwhite, Christian, Western civilization\u201d and warned against trying to revive \u201cthe age of the Crusades,\u201d saying such rhetoric could generate an \u201cenormous level of violence within each society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Cuba regime change \u2018a question of time\u2019 \u2013 Trump<\/p>\n
Beyond Venezuela, Washington has expanded military operations in the region under the banner of fighting drug cartels. US forces have carried out operations in Ecuador and threatened similar action in Mexico, while also launching numerous strikes on vessels suspected of narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
\nDespite the tensions, Bogota has continued to coordinate with Washington on counter-narcotics efforts. Earlier this year, the Columbian Interior Ministry said the two countries had agreed to take \u201cjoint action\u201d against cocaine-smuggling guerrilla groups operating along the border with Venezuela.
\nRussia\u2019s Foreign Ministry said reports of increased US pressure on Cuba were \u201cdeeply alarming,\u201d especially following the seizure of Maduro. The ministry said such actions represent an unacceptable infringement of state sovereignty. Russia\u2019s deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, said the capture of Maduro was a \u201cgross violation of international law\u201d and reiterated Moscow\u2019s call for his release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The statement by Colombian President Gustavo Petro comes after Washington kidnapped Venezuela\u2019s leader and threatened Cuba Colombian President Gustavo Petro has cautioned the US administration against trying to build \u201can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t