The President of Colombia Gustavo Petro addressed a pro-Palestine rally in Times Square in New York City on Sept. 26, and issued a public call for American soldiers to disobey the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump, and instead join with the “forces of humanity” to militarily liberate the Palestinian people.
Predictably, Petro’s brazen provocation brought a prompt response from the U.S. State Department: “Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
More significantly, Petro’s actions will greatly discredit the efforts of The Hague Group of 34 nations, which Colombia recently co-founded with South Africa, to find a way for the United Nations General Assembly to intervene to stop the genocide in Gaza. One experienced Colombia analyst commented to EIR: “Petro, once again, is acting the part of the seasoned agent provocateur, much as he did as a leader of the M-19 narco-terrorists in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s. London, Washington and Tel Aviv will be pleased as punch with his Times Square stunt.”
Petro told the rally: “From here, from New York, I call on all the soldiers of the United States Army: Do not point your rifles at humanity. Disobey Trump’s order. Obey the order of humanity…. We have to organize that great army ... it has to be bigger than the army of the United States.” Petro’s words were interpreted into English for the crowd by one of his aides.
