by WorldTribune Staff, January 29, 2025 Real World News
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going" as the saying goes . . . unless, that is, the "tough" are afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).
The antics of Colombian leftist President Gustavo Petro over the weekend has his government scrambling to mend fences with the United States.
The Colombian government on Sunday said it would dispatch Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo and an emergency delegation to Washington, DC to resolve the diplomatic crisis caused by Petro’s refusal to allow planes carrying deportees from the United States to land in Colombia.
Trump responded with retaliatory measures including immediate 25% tariffs on all Colombian goods and a travel ban on Colombian government officials.
Petro was quick to change his tune and allow the flights to land.
But the TDS is strong in the Colombian socialist. After Trump laid out the tariffs and sanctions he would impose unless the flights were allowed to land, Petro posted a message on X that accused Trump of racism and invited the American president, who does not consume alcohol, to share a glass of whisky and talk about the evils of fossil fuels.
“I don’t like your oil, Trump, it will end the human species out of greed,” Petro wrote. “Perhaps one day, along with a glass of whiskey that I accept despite my gastritis, we can talk frankly about that, but it is difficult because you consider me an inferior race than you and I am not, nor is any Colombian.”
Petro added that he believes America is “boring” and referenced the 1927 execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. He attempted to compliment the United States by proclaiming himself a fan of “Walt Withman” [sic].
Petro concluded by predicting that Trump would assassinate him.
The White House said it would pause the tariffs following Petro’s capitulation, but Colombian government officials would be banned from America until “the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.”
Shortly after Petro published his diatribe, Bogota announced it would accept the flights. United States officials subsequently announced they would not immediately impose retaliatory measures.
“The Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a statement on Sunday night.
“The visa sanctions issued by the State Department, and enhanced inspections from Customs and Border Protection, will remain in effect until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned,” she added.
This past summer, Petro, who was a proud member of the now-defunct M19 Marxist terrorist guerrilla group, was embroiled in another controversy after he reportedly was seen in Panama with a trans woman, MailOnline reported.
Petro, who has been married for 20 years to Veronica Alcocer since 2000, has not denied or confirmed that he was seen getting close to the trans woman, only speaking out to say he is not gay, and slam those he called "transphobic."
The former guerilla member wrote on X: "I am heterosexual, but you will never hear or read a transphobic word from me. Because not only would he stop being a man, but also human."
He added: "I have always considered that intimacy is the 'last level' of freedom, the last trench of being free, and I will preserve this principle until I write about myself or die. But these thousands of transphobic messages that have exploded in the hands of a right-wing, deeply exclusive, ignorant and discriminatory society must be rejected by the president."
One comment read: "Your sexual orientation is irrelevant, but the use of pubic resources to finance your adventures would be of interest to us all."
Another read: "It's incredible that you get accused of cheating and blame the ultra-right and the Nazis."
Timely: Defund Fake News
