Why Colombia’s Petro told Trump to ‘distance himself from Hitler’: Video
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sparked controversy with his remarks urging former U.S. President Donald Trump to “distance himself from Hitler.”
The remarks, delivered during a press conference, tied anti-immigration policies in the U.S. and Europe to the legacy of fascism.
Petro accused Trump of dehumanising migrants by portraying them as criminals and supporting detention centers that he likened to concentration camps.
“We cannot allow Trump to say that migrants are criminals and to build prisons that are actually concentration camps, just a repetition of Hitler,” Petro said. Adding that, “I say to Trump, distance yourself from Hitler. Your grandparents - and those of the entire American people - are buried in Europe, where thousands died to destroy Hitler. How is it possible that their grandchildren now support Hitler’s ideas?”
Petro included Europe in his criticism, arguing that anti-immigration rhetoric across the continent reflects a resurgence of fascist thinking.
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“All of Europe’s anti-immigration rhetoric is nothing but fascism. They don’t like Arabs, but the Arabs gave them numbers, the concept of good living, love, and poetry,” he said.
The Colombian leader suggested that Western societies were clinging to selective versions of history while ignoring their reliance on cultural and intellectual contributions from non-European peoples.
Petro urged the creation of a political and economic alliance between Latin America and Africa to promote democracy, human diversity, and renewable energy. He called on regional leaders - including Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum - to assert independence from U.S. dominance.
“We propose a global alliance for global democracy, for human diversity, for freedom, and for a new technology grounded in an economy based on new human relationships,” Petro said.
Petro further suggested that the Statue of Liberty could be relocated from New York to Cartagena if Western societies abandoned their commitment to freedom.
“If they really want freedom, let’s bring the Statue of Liberty from New York to Cartagena. If freedom is real, let it be through an M-19-style operation,” he said, referencing the guerrilla group he once belonged to.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
