Colombian President Gustavo Petro, an unabashed Marxist and former guerrilla member, spent much of 2025 embroiled in outrageous incidents while making wild claims that proved embarrassing for his entire nation.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president and a former member of the Marxist M19 terrorist group, is presently in the final months of his administration, slated to conclude in early August 2026. He is barred from ever running for president again, as the Colombian constitution strictly establishes that a president may only serve for a single four-year term.
The Colombian president, known for delivering unhinged rants on social media, seemingly outdid himself in 2025. What follows is a list, in no particular order, of Petro’s most outrageous moments this year.
The Infamous February Live Cabinet Meeting
In February, Petro ordered that his cabinet meetings would be broadcast on television and streamed online live. The first such broadcast saw one of the worst trainwreck moments of Petro’s presidency.
During the six-hour long meeting, Petro, an enthusiastic cocaine supporter, once again called for the legalization of the drug and mused about “eroticism of the Greeks and Romans” — all while his Vice President Francia Márquez and several of his ministers shouted at each other in disorganized rage. The disastrous broadcast prompted Petro to restructure his cabinet as several members resigned in disgust.
The January Deportation Impasse with the U.S.
Petro, days after President Donald Trump took office in January, caused a serious diplomatic situation with the then-recently inaugurated administration with a series of Twitter posts over the deportation of illegal Colombian immigrants from U.S. territory.
At the time, Petro abruptly decided to block the arrival of a previously agreed-upon deportation flight to Colombia. His unilateral decision created a diplomatic crisis between the countries, prompting President Trump to respond with a barrage of retaliatory measures. Ultimately, Petro caved and “agreed to all” of President Trump’s demands, sending a Colombian delegation to the U.S. to fully resolve the matter.
Later reports indicated that the leftist Colombian administration had to call on Conservative former President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe Vélez — a fierce critic of Petro — to help defuse the crisis.
After the incident, Petro claimed that he would stop using Twitter, a promise he failed to uphold.
Humanity Must ‘Get Rid of Trump’
Univisión President Daniel Coronell interviewed Petro in October. The interview saw Petro lash out at Trump, accusing him of being “rude and ignorant” as opposed to his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, whom Petro described as “direct and decent.”
Towards the end of the interview, Petro claimed that President Trump’s persistence in power represents an “obstacle to democracy, science, and truth,” and called for his removal in a way that made many observers fear he was calling not for Trump’s political retirement, but for his assassination. The frontrunner in the Colombian presidential race, conservative Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, was assassinated by a child months prior to the interview.
“Humanity has a first offramp, and it is to change Trump. In various ways. Perhaps the easiest way may be through Trump himself. If not,” Petro said, and snapped his fingers, “get rid of Trump.”
After the interview, Coronel remarked, “I’m leaving more worried than when I arrived.”
Demands U.S. Military Disobey Trump, Gets U.S. Visa Revoked
In September, during his official visit to New York on the occasion of the 80th United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA), Petro participated on a pro-Palestine rally alongside anti-U.S. and anti-Israel Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters and other leftists. Petro publicly called for the U.S. military to disobey its commander-in-chief’s orders and to join him in his proposal to form a multi-national army to “free Palestine.”
“This must be greater than that of the United States. That is why, from here in New York, I ask all soldiers in the U.S. Army not to point their guns at humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity,” Petro said.
The U.S. State Department revoked Petro’s U.S. visa in response to his calls.
‘I Don’t Need to Buy Sex… I Still Have Some Capacity for Seduction’
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Petro in October. Days before the announcement, President Trump accused Petro of being an “illegal drug dealer.” In an apparent attempt to “contradict” Trump’s accusations, Petro requested that AUIF, a local anti-money laundering unit, disclose his personal banking movements.
The documentation revealed that Petro, a socialist, made several purchases in some of the world’s most expensive department stores. More controversially, however, the documents revealed that Petro visited a strip club in Lisbon, Portugal, during an official visit to the European country.
The revelation caused widespread outrage among Colombians, prompting Petro to proclaim in a series of social media posts that, “I don’t need to buy sex, I don’t like it. I still have some capacity for seduction that allows me to avoid resorting to those practices of sad men.”
Drug addiction Allegations from His Own Former Staff
Alvaro Leyva, Petro’s former foreign minister, accused the Colombian president of suffering from unspecified drug addiction issues in two explosive letters released between April and May. Throughout the two letters, Leyva detailed a series of embarrassing situations involving Petro and other international heads of state — including Chinese dictator Xi Jinping — that, according to him, he witnessed during his tenure as minister that he claims serve as proof of Petro’s drug problems.
Taking Credit for Gaza Peace Deal
In October, Petro took credit for Israel and Hamas’ peace deal brokered by Donald Trump. According to the Colombian president, the deal was successful thanks to the alleged “pressure from humanity” that caused Trump to “learn despite his arrogance” to “say no to Israel.”
Violating Leftist ‘Gender’ Quotas to Appoint a ‘Non-Binary’ Ex-Porn Actor to His Cabinet
The Colombian Congress passed a law in 2024 imposing 50/50 gender parity quotas in high-ranking government positions that would eventually cause a new controversy for Petro in 2025.
In September, Petro appointed his “non-binary” friend Juan Carlos Florián to be the nation’s new “equality minister.” Florián is a LGBTQIA2 activist and former gay pornographic actor that refers to himself as “female” because, according to him, he is a “person and a f*ggot” but “is not gay.” Florían also claims to be a person of “non-hegemonic” gender.
A lawsuit introduced at the time by a Colombian law school student argued that Florían’s designation broke the ministerial gender parity balance in favor of men. Florían initially resigned amid the lawsuit, but returned to his position shortly after Petro slightly rearranged his cabinet, allowing Florían to keep his position without breaking the gender parity law.
Daring Marco Rubio to Arrest Him
In late November, roughly a month after the U.S. imposed sanctions on him, Petro dared Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “arrest him” in yet another unhinged rant at the United States. Petro further dared Rubio to be personally involved in the hypothetical arrest.
“So I have to say to Mr. Marco Rubio, brother, ‘If you are going to arrest me, let’s see if you can,’” Petro declared. “If you want to put me in the — what is it? — orange pajamas [jumpsuit]? Try it. But this people does not kneel. Your hate of the past, what I do not know nor is any other Colombian guilty of what happened to your grandfather or your father in Cuba.”
‘Drug Trafficking Workers’
Petro’s ongoing animosity towards the United States and President Trump took a new turn since the start of the U.S. military deployment in Caribbean waters to fight drug cartels operating in the region. Petro has accused President Trump of “murdering” narco-terrorists killed in the ongoing operations.
The Colombian president, however, appears to reject the notion of describing the men onboard the drug-laden vessels as drug traffickers and, in October, he suggested that these men should be called “drug trafficking workers” instead.
“Therefore, to call these boatmen drug traffickers, in my opinion, it is not idiomatic; they are drug trafficking workers,” Petro said. “Just as there are farmers who end up providing them with supplies through coca leaves in exchange for money and because of their poverty,” Petro said at the time.
Court Orders Petro to Retract ‘Scientific’ Comments About Women’s Clitoris and Brains
On late November, a Colombian court ordered Petro issue a public apology to women after he claimed on a September broadcast that “a free woman does whatever she wants with her clitoris and her brain, and if she knows how to balance the two, she will be a great woman.”
Colombian criminal lawyer Tatiana Echavarría filed a lawsuit against Petro on grounds that his words not only “reproduced sexist stereotypes, but also affects the democratic education of children and adolescents.”
Although the courts gave Petro an October deadline to issue the apology, he waited until November 25, which the U.N. declared as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to issue the apology.
I acknowledge that my choice of words was unfortunate, but scientific. And that in doing so, I gave rise to an understanding that diminished what should never be diminished: the integral greatness of women,” Petro said.
Move Statue of Liberty from U.S. to Colombia
Petro has fiercely opposed President Trump’s illegal migrant deportation policies — a stance that prompted him to suggest in July that the Statue of Liberty should be moved from the United States to Colombia. Petro notably issued the proposal through yet another rant at the United States during a broadcast intended to be focused on the subject of Colombia’s healthcare system.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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