The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, achieved a significant political victory after holding a “positive” meeting with the president of the United States, Donald Trump, this Tuesday at the White House.
It was only in October that the United States government accused Petro of being involved in drug trafficking (Petro has denied these accusations), without presenting any evidence, and revoked his visa after inflammatory statements from New York City.
Trump followed up on those accusations by calling Petro “a sick man” and, for a few weeks, it seemed that the White House held the Colombian president in the same disrepute as the infamous Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, threatening both countries with armed attacks.
Exactly one month after Maduro was brought to New York in handcuffs to answer narco-terrorism charges (which the Venezuelan president rejects), Petro was welcomed into the Oval Office for a meeting that everyone involved said was a success.
Three efforts contributed to this remarkable turn of events.
First, Colombian officials and institutions worked meticulously behind the scenes to repair differences between the two leaders. Former presidents, ambassadors, business groups and even some of Petro’s political rivals contacted their relations in Washington to send the message that the relationship between Colombia and the United States is the cornerstone of Bogotá’s foreign policy, regardless of who occupies the presidency.
Second is the ruthlessness of Donald Trump, the American president always ready to surprise friends and enemies alike by changing policies at the drop of a hat. When it became clear that Colombia was a completely different issue from Venezuela, it was only a matter of time before Trump sat down with his leader to talk about business instead of bombs, and business was talked about in the Oval Office: natural gas exports, sanctions relief for Colombian producers and the opening of the Venezuelan market now that Maduro is gone, Petro himself said during a press conference this Tuesday afternoon.
The third effort was, perhaps, the most surprising and came from the president himself: Petro, a notoriously proud and combative leader, really prepared thoroughly for the meeting, agreeing to put aside differences and wounded pride after the October grievance, for the sake of the greater good.
After this Tuesday, the points of clash remain, but perhaps with the understanding that, even with differences, there can be dialogue, respect and mutual benefits.
In his press conference after the meeting, Petro said that when Trump gave him a MAGA cap (For Make America Great Again, Trump’s campaign slogan that translates as Let’s Make America Great Again), as is the US president’s custom when he meets with foreign dignitaries visiting Washington, the former Colombian guerrilla quickly took a pen to slightly modify the acronym by adding the plural: Make Americas Great Again, from the North to the South.
