Colombian President Gustavo Petro has suggested recreating Gran Colombia – the early 19th Century country that included modern day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama – on multiple occasions over the weekend.
The South American leader made the comments in response to Washington’s ongoing strike campaign on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, which has killed more than 70 people accused of trafficking drugs. Petro said a union may be the only way to counter U.S. aggression in the region, which has dialed up pressure on Caracas and Bogotá.
However, Petro’s right-hand man Armando Benedetti played down the claims as “symbolic” in an interview with the Miami Herald.
“America is not a continent of kings or princesses, princes or despots. Every dictator who has appeared here has faced rebellion,” said Petro in a speech on Saturday, referring to Trump’s campaign in the Caribbean. “Isn’t it time, then, to talk about Gran Colombia again?”
Gran Colombia was a republic that existed from 1821 to 1831, encompassing the majority of northern South America. It was founded by Simon Bolívar, who led the region to independence from Spain and remains a key rhetorical figure in Latin American politics, especially in Colombia and Venezuela.
Speaking in Santa Marta, where Bolívar died, Petro drew comparisons between the revolutionary struggle of the early 1800s and the present day, saying the answer to countering Washington’s aggression “should be our own union.”
The president elaborated on the suggestion in a post on X the following day, floating a European Union-style accord: “I propose to the peoples inhabiting this territory… [that] they rebuild this idea… of a Gran Colombia, with a common parliament and collegiate presidency, as in the European Union.”
The same day, Petro hosted delegates at a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union. In his opening speech, he delivered a history lesson on Gran Colombia and argued that Latin America has an older, but less successful, history of integration than the European Union.
While Petro repeatedly promoted the idea of a return to Gran Colombia, his right-hand man, Benedetti played down the president’s rhetoric.
“I interpret that statement to mean that Colombia and the countries of Latin America, especially South America, will return once again to brotherhood, to a region at peace,” he told the Herald.
Benedetti noted the impracticalities of merging multiple nations, saying that Petro’s language was “symbolic.” “I think he means that we should go back to being brothers, that we should look inward a little and not get into conflict with each other,” the minister said.
The Colombian president’s comments are the latest in a series of heated exchanges with President Donald Trump, who added Petro to a list of sanctioned individuals last month, alleging without presenting proof that he is “an illegal drug dealer.”
Last week, Petro used his speech at the COP30 climate summit to lambast Trump, accusing him of being “against mankind” and comparing his immigration policy to that of the Nazis.
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