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

Stephen Millies
Don’t Let Them Kill Cilia Flores!
14 October 2026
While Trump pardoned an actual drug lord president, he keeps a kidnapped Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, First Combatant Ce
Black Alliance For Peace
The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of Neocolonial Gang Suppression Force UN Mandate in Haiti
07 October 2026
The UN's renewal of the Gang Suppression Force mandate is part of a wider hemispheric project to reassert military control across the Americas.
Berthony Dupont
How the OAS Works for Imperialism in Haiti
07 October 2026
The armed groups in Haiti are not a spontaneous wave of banditry, but a scheme orchestrated by imperialist powers in concert with a reactionary
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

More Stories


  • Tens of Thousands Pledge to Resist an Imperialist-backed Intervention in Niger
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Tens of Thousands Pledge to Resist an Imperialist-backed Intervention in Niger
    30 Aug 2023
    The U.S. is instigating a regional attack on Niger, but the people of that nation are in solidarity with others who will resist any aggression.
  • BRICS Expansion is Positive – But Not a Coherent Challenge to US Power
    Morning Star Online
    BRICS Expansion is Positive – But Not a Coherent Challenge to US Power
    30 Aug 2023
    The expansion of the BRICS beyond Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is an important development but not one that will challenge U.S. efforts at domination.
  • Black Agenda Radio August 25, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio August 25, 2023
    25 Aug 2023
    Impending Haiti occupation and Black face imperialism, attacks on abortion and reproductive rights, how the climate crisis impacts Black people.
  • Haiti Under Attack from Imperialism in Black Face
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Haiti Under Attack from Imperialism in Black Face
    25 Aug 2023
    Austin Cole joins us to talk about the Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team efforts to mobilize against the impending occupation of Haiti which will use African and Caribbean nations to do U.…
  • Attacks on Abortion and Reproductive Rights Harm Black Women
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Attacks on Abortion and Reproductive Rights Harm Black Women
    25 Aug 2023
    Qiana Arnold is a birth justice associate and a full spectrum doula at Support Your Sistah at the Afiya Center in Dallas, Texas.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us