Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the deployment of security forces to the country’s border with Venezuela following United States military strikes on Venezuelan territory, which former US President Donald Trump claimed resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
In a series of posts on Saturday, Petro denounced Washington’s actions as an attack on the sovereignty of Latin America, warning that the escalation could trigger a humanitarian crisis across the region. While stressing that the situation should be resolved through dialogue, the Colombian leader said precautionary measures were necessary to safeguard national security.
“I have ordered the deployment of security forces to the Venezuelan border to preserve stability and protect our people,” Petro said, without directly addressing Trump’s claim about Maduro’s capture, despite the Venezuelan leader being a close political ally of his administration.
Petro also called for urgent international intervention, urging the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations to convene emergency meetings to examine what he described as the legality of the US action. Colombia currently holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a position Petro said justified his appeal for immediate deliberation.
The Colombian president has previously criticised US military operations in the Caribbean, particularly those authorised by Trump under the banner of combating drug trafficking, arguing that such actions risk destabilising the region.
Colombia’s Defence Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the armed forces had activated “all operational capacities” along the border to prevent possible security threats, including attacks by illegal armed groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN).
Despite the heightened rhetoric and troop movements, an AFP correspondent reported calm conditions at the main border crossing between Colombia and Venezuela as of Saturday.
Tensions between Bogotá and Washington have risen in recent months, especially after Trump suggested he might authorise strikes on drug-production laboratories in Colombia as part of his anti-narcotics strategy — a proposal Petro strongly condemned at the time as a threat to Colombia’s sovereignty.
