President Gustavo Petro announced that he will attend the United Nations Security Council in New York, despite the fact that his visa was revoked by the United States Government and his name included in the Clinton List of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac), which sanctions people linked to criminal organizations.

The president confirmed that Colombia will become a member of the UN Security Council as of January 1, 2026, the date on which, he said, it will return to US territory, although the federal authorities will not welcome it.

“Colombia will be, as of January 1, a member of the Security Council. I will have the pleasure of returning to New York, even if the federal government does not want to receive me there”Petro stated in an interview with Al Jazeera.

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The Clinton List, which includes him, his ex-wife Verónica Alcocer, his son Nicolás Petro and even the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, affects his ability to operate financially abroad. According to the president himself, this constitutes a “political persecution motivated by its rejection of US military operations in the Caribbean and its position on the conflict in Gaza.

Why did the United States revoke Petro’s visa?

The State Department justified the revocation of the visa due to the Colombian president’s statements during a protest in New York, where he incited US military personnel to disobey Donald Trump’s orders. According to the entity, Petro starred “reckless and inflammatory actions” that motivated the sanction.

In the same interview, the Colombian head of state also criticized the United States missile attacks against ships in the Caribbean Sea, describing them as “extrajudicial executions” and pointing out the lack of a forceful response from Latin American governments.

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