Colombian President Floats New Latin American Union
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has floated the idea of recreating Gran Colombia, the 19th-century republic that once spanned a swath of South America.
Petro made the comments last weekend in response to the United States’ strike campaign in the Caribbean, which President Donald Trump’s administration has said is targeting drug traffickers.
Petro said that a union could counter U.S. aggression in the region, although his interior minister later played down the remarks as "symbolic."
Newsweek reached out to the Colombian president's office for comment.
Why It Matters
Petro's comments signal his growing anger about the Trump administration's drug policy in the Caribbean and follow a deepening spat between Washington and Bogota, a U.S. ally in the region.
What To Know
Gran Colombia was founded by Simón Bolívar, who led the region to independence from Spain. It existed from 1821 to 1831 and included modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.
Petro referred to the 19th-century republic as he took aim at the U.S. campaign in the Caribbean. Speaking on Saturday in Santa Marta, where Bolívar died, Petro compared the revolutionary struggle of the early 1800s with the present day.
He said on Saturday that every dictator who has appeared in the country has faced rebellion and asked if it was time "to talk about Gran Colombia again?"
In a post on X on Sunday, he proposed rebuilding the idea of a Gran Colombia along the lines of the European Union, with a common parliament and presidency. Petro repeated the idea when he hosted delegates at a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, where he said that Latin America has an older, but less successful, history of integration than the EU.
However, Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told the Miami Herald that Petro's comments were "symbolic" and referred to how Colombia and its neighbors will return "to brotherhood" rather than a merging of several nations.
Last month, the United States Treasury imposed sanctions on Petro, his family, and Benedetti over accusations that the government had not reined in the cocaine trade.
This puts the left-wing Petro in a club alongside Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a U.S. adversary who is also a focus of Trump's narcotics crackdown, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, Petro said at the COP30 climate summit that Trump was "against mankind" and likened his immigration policy to that of the Nazis.
What People Are Saying
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, speaking Sunday in Santa Marta: "America is not a continent of kings or princesses, princes or despots. Every dictator who has appeared here has faced rebellion…isn't it time, then, to talk about Gran Colombia again?"
Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told the Miami Herald: "I think [Petro] means that we should go back to being brothers, that we should look inward a little and not get into conflict with each other."
What Happens Next
Benedetti has played down Petro's comments as “symbolic,” suggesting that it was not a foreign policy priority. However, there will be anticipation over whether ties between Washington and Bogota will continue to deteriorate amid the Trump administration's clampdown on alleged narcotics smuggling.
2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
This story was originally published November 11, 2025 at 7:42 AM.