petro Defends Military Reinforcement, Criticizes Foreignโฃ Drug Traffickers & Venezuela Blockade โฃFrom New york
NEWโข YORK โ – President Gustavoโ Petro, speaking from New York on September 24, 2025, asserted โขhis commitment to strengthening Colombia‘s โคmilitaryโ capabilities, while concurrentlyโ criticizing what he described as a weakening of the armed forces over the past โฃ15 โฃyears. He framed the reinforcement not solely as a matter of acquiring equipment, but also of ensuring the well-being and dignified future of soldiers and police officers.
Petro stated, “They โขweakened the capabilities โคof the army in the โlast 15 years. I want to reinforce it. They are not justโ the airplanes. Itโฃ is the war โmaterial that guarantees speed and mass depth.” He further emphasized the โimportance of financial security for service members and their families, adding, “They are not justโค weapons. He is a soldier and a patrolman who knows that his family โand himself will โขhave decent income.”
The President also advocated for a secure professional life post-service, “even above the disability โthat can occur by wounds,” and โขwarned against theโ allure of mercenary work.
Petro’sโ remarks extended to a sharp critique of international drug trafficking, alleging that major players โ”areโค blond โฃand with blue eyes” and maintain vast fortunesโ in โฃglobalโ financial centers like Miami, Newโข York, Paris, Madrid, and Dubai. He contrasted their wealth with the locations targetedโข by violence, โฃstating, “No poverty, but theโฃ missiles throw them where ther is poverty and not โwhere there is luxury.”
Addressing concerns surrounding the “Araguaโ Train,” a Venezuelan โขcriminal organization, Petro dismissed โขclaims of terrorism, labeling them “common criminals” โand attributing their growth to “the stupid idea of โฃโโblocking Venezuela and keepโ his โheavy and poisonous oil.”
Petro condemned the treatment of migrants, arguing against “concentration camps and expulsionโฆchained,” and characterizing migration as an inevitable result of โeconomic blockades imposed on countries like Iraq, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.โ He concluded,โ “Theโ economic blockade isโค nothing more than a genocide.”