Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Photo: AFP/File photo.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro rejected US interference and urged Washington on Tuesday not to comment or “interfere” in Colombia’s internal affairs, particularly its judicial system.
“I ask the US embassy in Colombia not to interfere in the justice system of my country,” Petro wrote on X, responding to a message issued by the US diplomatic headquarters in Bogotá. The embassy had cited remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, following the court ruling issued against former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe.
According to Rubio in that statement, “former Colombian President Uribe’s only crime has been tirelessly fighting and defending his homeland.” In this context, the US diplomat claimed that the conviction of the former president is a “weaponization of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges,” which has now “set a troubling precedent.”
Le solicito a la embajada de EEUU en Colombia no entrometerse en la justicia de mi país.
Decenas de jueces magistrados, fiscales han sido asesinados en su lucha contra el narcotráfico, y las relaciones del narcotráfico y el estado colombiano.
Mucha valentía colombiana muriendo… https://t.co/Zu3Tt2qLGs
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 29, 2025
In response to these remarks, Petro stated that in Colombia, “dozens” of judges, magistrates, and prosecutors “have been murdered in their fight against drug trafficking,” as well as for their fight against “the relationship between drug trafficking and the Colombian state.”
“So much Colombian courage has died, killed for helping the US, only for the US now to come and disrespect it,” Petro added. He also called on “judicial associations and workers of the US judiciary” to “stand in solidarity with the Colombian justice system,” which today is “under attack by a foreign government.”
Previously, Colombia’s acting Foreign Minister, Rosa Villavicencio, expressed Bogotá’s rejection of Rubio’s “interference.” “We reject Marco Rubio’s statements regarding the conviction of Álvaro Uribe. His interference in Colombia’s judicial affairs violates our sovereignty and disregards the independence of our justice system,” the diplomat said.
Rechazamos las declaraciones de Marco Rubio sobre la condena a Álvaro Uribe. Su intromisión en asuntos judiciales colombianos vulnera nuestra soberanía y desconoce la independencia de la justicia. #RespetoALaJusticia #ColombiaSoberana@CancilleriaCol@petrogustavo
— Yolanda Villavicencio Mapy (@ryvillavicencio) July 29, 2025
‘Autonomy and independence’
Prior to Petro’s response, the Colombian embassy in the US sent a letter to the White House in reaction to Rubio’s comments on the Uribe case, in which Uribe was found guilty of bribery in criminal proceedings and procedural fraud in what has been called the “trial of the century.”
“The Republic of Colombia is founded on a firm and unequivocal separation of powers,” says the statement from the Colombian embassy in Washington, to which the Colombian press had access. It continues: “The judiciary operates with full autonomy and independence—principles enshrined in our constitutional framework and actively upheld by the current administration under President Gustavo Petro.”
#MUNDO| Ante las reacciones del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos frente al fallo sobre Álvaro Uribe y de varios congresistas republicanos, la Embajada de Colombia en Washington se pronunció sobre el caso del expresidente entregando un “contexto para promover una… pic.twitter.com/WK6uogbYIg
— ÚltimaHoraCaracol (@UltimaHoraCR) July 29, 2025
In the letter, Bogotá explains that the legal case against former President Uribe dates back to 2012 and originally began in the Supreme Court of Justice, which holds constitutional authority to investigate congressmen.
Colombia’s Courts Finds Álvaro Uribe Guilty After 13-Year Judicial Process
The embassy also emphasized that the case is still “ongoing,” as former President Uribe, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office is seeking nine years in prison for his crimes, still has “two more instances to appeal the ruling, which reflects the procedural and constitutional guarantees of the Colombian system.”
“Two additional judicial instances remain available to the defense to challenge the decision, in full compliance with procedural and constitutional guarantees. As a sovereign country, this Embassy reaffirms its confidence in the integrity and independence of the Colombian judicial system and in its ability to guarantee due process at all levels,” the statement added.
(RT)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JB/SH