Colombian President Gustavo Petro negotiated with President Trump to avoid armed conflict.
This week I spoke with attorney Dan Kovalik, who has been representing Colombian President Gustavo Petro with regard to the US sanctions. Kovalik also accompanied President Petro on his visit to the White House to meet with President Trump.
ANN GARRISON: Dan Kovalik, on February 3, President Gustavo Petro met with President Donald Trump at the White House. At the time, Trump had the most powerful navy and air force in the world in the Caribbean, basically threatening Colombia if it didn't get what it wanted. So what did it want? And how did this play out?
DAN KOVALIK: Obviously it wanted Venezuela's oil. That was a big thing.
But what did it want from Colombia? What the US claimed it wanted was closer cooperation with Colombia on drug eradication, on fighting drug trafficking, also some help getting energy to Venezuela, to get its oil industry back up and running.
Those were his main asks.
AG: Do you think Trump is serious about interdicting drug traffic? Do you think he cares?
DK: Well, I think that it's not a major concern of his. I think it's mixed, I mean, yes, I think he wants a win in terms of being able to show he stopped the drug trafficking from South America. In fact, I just saw that the US and Colombia seized 10 tons of cocaine in a joint operation in the last couple of days. So I think there is some interest there.
I think more to the point Trump also realized that Colombia is a necessary ally in the region, and that it couldn't afford to continue to threaten Colombia, to alienate Colombia. I think that might have been a bigger issue.
AG: And so what did President Petro ask for?
DK: He didn’t have major demands of Trump. I mean, he basically said, “Look, if you want more drug eradication and you want to go after the cartels, then we need US cooperation to do that. We need US help.” Also, he said, “Well, you know, we're happy to go after the drug leaders, drug cartel leaders in Colombia. But those are the small guys.” He said, “The big guys are in Miami and Dubai, in Madrid, right?” And he said, “Are you going to go after those guys?” Which is interesting.
President Petro also talked about wanting to eradicate drugs through crop substitution, encouraging farmers growing coca to grow other crops. And Colombia has a program for that, which Petro spearheaded. It’s encouraging farmers who grow coca to grow other things like chocolate and coffee and that's been very successful.
He also mentioned that to Trump and said that, again, US companies and development agencies could help with that, and Trump seemed interested.
In fact, Petro gave Trump and Rubio a present—coffee and chocolate from some farmers who were part of this crop substitution program, who used to grow coca.
AG: Interesting, it's hard to believe that Trump really cares about drug eradication, given that he just pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, former Honduran president and drug kingpin.
DK: That’s true and you know the Ecuadorian government is now deeply involved in the drug trade, and no one seems to care about that. So I hear what you're saying. I think there are a lot of double standards there, but I do think, for whatever reason, he has some interest in stopping the drugs coming out of Colombia again, at least for PR purposes.
AG: That’s what I’d say, PR purposes, given that he claimed he was trying to stop the drug trade when he wasn’t claiming that Venezuela’s oil belongs to “us,” meaning US corporations.
DK: Yeah, it was probably for PR purposes more than anything else.
AG: Did Trump demand anything else?
DK: No, those were the main things, going after high value targets, HVTS, you know, heads of cartels in Colombia.
The head of Ecopetrol, Colombia’s national oil company, was also there, and he offered to help get energy to Venezuela by building pipelines, to help Venezuela get its oil industry back on its feet. Those were the main things.
AG: How would pipelines from Colombia to Venezuela help Venezuela?
DK: They need fuel. I know that sounds strange, but until they get the oil industry back online, they need fuel.
AG: So that would bring fuel from Colombia to Venezuela?
DK: I think they talked specifically about natural gas.
AG: Did they discuss President Maduro, who is now sitting in a federal prison in New York?
DK: They did not discuss Maduro. Petro was careful not to go down that road because he knew it would not help the meeting to do that. Petro has been very open, however, that Maduro should not have been kidnapped, and that if the Venezuelans think he's done something wrong, they should try him themselves. He shouldn't be tried in the United States.
AG: Were there any issues about Colombia’s social programs?
DK: No, they weren't asked about those. They weren't asked about China. They weren't asked about Cuba. They weren’t asked about Gaza.
AG: President Petro was kicked out of the country last year after he addressed a pro-Palestinian rally at the UN's annual gathering, but they didn't talk about that?
DK: No, it was just not discussed. And, you know, we thought it might be, but it wasn't. It wasn't brought up. I felt that Trump came to the meeting wanting it to go well, and Petro came to the meeting wanting it to go well, so as a consequence, it went well.
AG: No one came in with a confrontational attitude.
DK: Well, not Trump or Petro. I think Vance and Rubio had more of a contentious attitude. But they were pretty much shut down by Trump.
AG: What makes you say that accompanying President Petro to the White House was the best thing you ever did?
DK: Well, because I did help prepare President Petro for the meeting, and I feel that I helped in some modest way, so I feel some gratification there. I also spent a week with President Petro, and that was great. I mean, it was a great honor for me and it was a success. It was a team effort. Many of us helped out and I was part of that team, so that feels great.
AG: What about the sanctions? Did you discuss the sanctions?
DK: No, those weren't discussed. Trump has shown some willingness to lift them, but they weren’t raised and we all agreed, on our side, that they shouldn't be. That was not the place to raise them.
AG: OK, is there anything else you’d like to say?
DK: Just that I think Petro, you know, really shined. I think he proved a lot of people wrong, people who didn't think the meeting was going to go well, or who hoped the meeting would not go well. And he returned a conquering hero. He did a great job, and he made peace where war could have happened. So I'm, you know, very honored to serve him. Very proud to know him.
AG: OK, Dan, thanks again for speaking to Black Agenda Report.
DK: My pleasure.
Ann Garrison is a Black Agenda Report Contributing Editor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2014, she received the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize for her reporting on conflict in the African Great Lakes region. She can be reached at ann@anngarrison.com. You can help support her work on Patreon.
Daniel Kovalik is a lawyer focusing particularly on human rights and a prolific author. He taught International Human Rights Law at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012-2023. His most recent books are "The Case for Palestine: Why it Matters and Why You Should Care," and "Syria: Anatomy of a Regime Change."
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