Colombian President Gustavo Petro. File photo.
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, refuted reports that Spain had denied refueling his presidential plane at the Madrid airport.
In a social media post on Thursday, October 30, Petro categorically denied the information, calling it an “outrageous lie” and adding that, on the contrary, the Spanish government had provided him with assistance.
“The humiliation did not happen at the Madrid airport; stop spreading lies,” he wrote. According to his account, the incident took place in Cape Verde, an archipelago in West Africa. He attributed responsibility to “the US company which the Colombian Air Force (FAC) contracted for all its fuel outside the country, something that should never have happened.”
La humillación no la pusieron en el aeropuerto de Madrid, no digan más mentiras.
Fue la empresa norteamericana con la que la FAC contrato toda su gasolina fuera del país, cosa que nunca debió ocurrir, y el lugar fue Cabo Verde en el África. España me ayudó, al contrario.
Menos… https://t.co/IRVgR81cV8
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 30, 2025
The Colombian president pointed to a political motive behind the incident. “The world knows that Trump is persecuting me because I oppose the genocide in Gaza and the crimes in the Caribbean,” he stated.
Furthermore, he announced a direct consequence: “It is a good thing the US company did the humiliation, because the contract with it will be ended.”
The mention of Cape Verde carries a heavy diplomatic and legal history that immediately resonates in the Latin American context. This country was at the center of a prolonged international conflict over the 2020 abduction of Alex Saab, a Venezuelan diplomat.
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Saab was detained during a technical layover in Cape Verde. The Venezuelan government called the detention an act of abduction, highlighting that at the time of his capture he had diplomatic immunity as a special envoy of Venezuela on a humanitarian mission.
The case became emblematic of US pressure against the Venezuelan government. During his captivity, Saab alleged that he had been tortured, and his situation was subjected to scrutiny by international organizations. Both the United Nations and the Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued critical statements regarding his detention and extradition to the US, holding that legal procedures and international treaties had been violated.
The Cape Verdean authorities at the time ignored the ECOWAS resolutions ordering Saab’s immediate release and compensation. Finally, after an intense legal and diplomatic battle, the diplomat was released in late 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange between the United States and Venezuela, which included the release of 10 Americans, among them two former Special Forces members involved in the failed invasion attempt Operation Gideon.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
