According to Petro, he was unable to land in Cordoba because he was afraid that “they might open fire on the helicopter.”
“I must admit that at the time I was fleeing an attempt on my life, so I couldn’t arrive yesterday. I couldn’t land where I was supposed to. They didn’t even turn on the landing lights,” said the Colombian president. “We flew out into the open sea for four hours and arrived where we didn’t intend to, […] fleeing an assassination attempt with my children.”
Petro has repeatedly claimed that drug traffickers are planning to kill him.
As El Tiempo pointed out, the largest cartel in Colombia, the clan del Golfo, operates in Cordoba. Last week, his representatives decided to suspend peace talks with the government after Petro agreed with US President Donald Trump to begin a “hunt” for the cartel leader, drug lord Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, known as Chiquito Malo.
Context
Trump has repeatedly accused Petro's administration of facilitating the flow of cocaine into the United States, calling him a “drug cartel boss,” a “low-rated leader,” a “bad, very bad guy,” a “sick man,” a “thug and a scoundrel” and telling him to “watch your ass.”
The New York Times wrote that Trump called Petro “sick” and considered the idea of US military action in Colombia “not a bad idea.”
In December 2025, Trump threatened Petro, saying Colombia “produces a lot of drugs.” “I vowed never to touch a weapon again after the peace treaty in 1989, but for the sake of my homeland I will again take up a weapon that I do not want,” the Colombian president wrote in turn.
Earlier, on October 24, the US Treasury introduced restrictions against the President of Colombia, his wife and son, accusing Petro of having ties to drug trafficking.
However, on February 3, 2026, Trump received Petro at the White House. This meeting was closed to the press at the request of the Colombian side, the media wrote.
