Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro called on his American counterpart, Joe Biden, to stop supporting “those who today promote barbarism.”
Petro made the call amid tensions between the US Government and the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the decision to seek the arrest of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes against humanity in Palestine.
In a publication on social media platform X, Petro said that his government welcomed a criminal investigation “against those mainly responsible for the violation of international law and the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
Biden has consistently supported Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza and called the decision of ICC prosecutor Karim Kahn “outrageous.”
Colombia’s president subsequently urged his American counterpart to join “the majority of Latin America whose peoples want to build a better world” and abandon “those who today promote barbarism.”
President Biden has the peace of the world in his hands. He must fight against the climate crisis, restructure the debt to finance the decarbonization of economies, and reconcile with the Arabs and Africans within the United States by ceasing to support those who today promote barbarism. If it does so, he will join most of Latin America whose people want to build a better world.
President Gustavo Petro
“Like in the 40’s, the world needs the North American people to join humanity to defend life and democracy,” Petro added.
The Colombian President has been among the most vociferous critics of Israel’s government and military, which has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza since October.
Netanyahu and Biden have consistently claimed that Israel’s alleged genocide is a defensive response to the Palestinian armed group Hamas, which killed more than 1,100 people in Israel in a surprise attack in southern Israel on Octrober 7, last year.