Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

U.S. Takes Aim at President Gustavo Petro, but He's Akin to a Rock Star in Colombia
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor , Dan Kovalik
25 Mar 2026
🖨️ Print Article

All eyes are now fixed on the US-Israeli War on Iran, so there's been little attention to US moves to undermine Colombian President Gustavo Petro. These could, at worst, see Petro in a US prison alongside Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US kidnapped on January 3rd. I spoke to attorney and author Dan Kovalik, President Petro’s legal representative in the US and in international courts. We agreed that, as peace and justice activists, we need to understand this as another front in a global war to crush dissidence and re-establish the hegemony of neoliberalism and US empire. He said that President Petro is akin to a rock star in Colombia where huge crowds turn out to meet him in public.

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."

Colombia
Gustavo Petro
Venezuela
Nicolas Maduro
Neoliberalism
imperialism
Latin America

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Abel Prieto
Venezuela: It Is What You See
30 September 2026
A photograph of Delcy Rodríguez smiling with Donald Trump after the U.S.
Pambazuka News Editors
Türkiye, UAE, and the Imperialist Chain: African Ports and War
30 September 2026
Imperialist competition and wars that facilitate extractivism have long shaped the use of seaports for access to resources, markets, and devalu
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The U.S. Determination to Achieve Full Spectrum Dominance is Not In Decline
23 September 2026
The trope of the United States being in a state of decline is a common one, but it should not be accepted without scrutiny. The U.S.
Jacqueline Luqman
The Perfect Victim Narrative Applied To Foreign Policy Only Keeps U.S. Imperialism Alive
23 September 2026
The demand to call out alleged crimes in Iran or Cuba while those countries face annihilation from the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Ultimate Betrayal of Alex Saab and the Fate of Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan People
16 September 2026
The United States got its hands on Alex Saab a second time in order to use him in its case against Nicolás Maduro. The U.S.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
COMMENTARY: The Shrinking American Empire, Glen Ford, 2009
16 September 2026
“The Iraq invasion greatly accelerated the process of U.S. imperialism’s decline.” 
Gary Wilson
Germany’s war drive feeds the far right in Saxony-Anhalt
16 September 2026
The AfD's landslide in Saxony-Anhalt reflects real working-class anger at the war and the arms buildup, but the party redirects that anger towa
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
In the same boat?
09 September 2026
BOOM goes tuna and swordfish stuffed brown burlap bags aboardboats blown to smithereens. Presto! Fishing is now narco-trafficking.
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
Guardian Foray: All That's Not Real Is Camouflage
09 September 2026
An Open Letter from the American "Left" allegedly on behalf of unnamed persons said to be Iranian political prisoners has provided co
Luciano Vasapollo
Cuba Stands Firm, Venezuela Risks Losing its Sovereignty
09 September 2026
Cuba's leadership has chosen resistance over subordination as the blockade tightens, but Venezuela's sovereignty is being stripped away.

More Stories


  • Tariq Ali
    War on Gaza: How the West celebrated the Nuseirat massacre
    19 Jun 2024
    In the latest repellent display, western media are hailing the rescue of four Israeli hostages at the cost of 270 Palestinian lives.
  • Qaanitah Hunter
    Will South Africa’s new Coalition Government Change Tack on Israel-Palestine?
    19 Jun 2024
    While the new government includes parties neutral about Israel’s war on Gaza, ANC insists it will still support Palestine. South Africa took the lead in charging Israel with genocide but its level of…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 14, 2024
    14 Jun 2024
    This week, we hear from a formerly incarcerated person about efforts in the state of California to end slavery in the prison system and we discuss the need for an enlarged housing voucher program in…
  • VOCAL-NY
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    New Yorkers Need More Housing Vouchers
    14 Jun 2024
    Milton Perez joins us to discuss the lack of affordable housing in New York City and the housing access voucher program.
  • Haitians building the Ouanaminthe canal
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Haitian Sovereignty and the Construction of the Ouanaminthe Canal
    14 Jun 2024
    Dr. Bertrhude Albert joins us to discuss the construction of the Ouanaminthe Canal, the history of the Massacre River, and the project's importance to the Haitian people.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us