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

Kimberly D. Miller
Beyond the "Delcyification" of Analysis
19 August 2026
Siege, survival, and the dialectics of Venezuelan sovereignty.
Hedelberto López Blanch
A Shady Figure Will Preside Over Colombia
19 August 2026
Colombia's new president has ties to paramilitaries and drug traffickers, but Trump's endorsement swept his crimes aside as he embraces Washing
Luis Britto García
Venezuela Is Not Iran
19 August 2026
Venezuela is not Iran or Cuba, but those nations teach us that sovereignty is not given but is obtained through resistance.
Orinoco Tribune
‘To the Victor Belong the Spoils’: Trump Flaunts US Plunder of Venezuela
11 August 2026
The U.S. is not shy about proclaiming its control of Venezuela and its resources.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Venezuela, Memory, and the Long Arc of U.S. Imperialism
29 July 2026
Memories of a sovereign Venezuela collide with the reality that it is now a U.S. vassal state.
Carlos Aznárez
Zionist Expansionism in Latin America
22 July 2026
Free trade deals, water contracts, and military training programs are quietly binding one Latin American government after another to Tel Aviv.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The White Supremacist Imperative on Violence: A Black Radical Perspective on the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination
15 July 2026
The U.S.-EU-NATO axis remains intact, and its commitment to militarism represents an existential threat to the world.
Gary Wilson
Pentagon Turns Earthquake Into Occupation of Venezuela
15 July 2026
The same U.S.
Hanna Eid
Sovereignty and Strategic Depth
08 July 2026
The U.S.
Jacqueline Luqman
Disaster Capitalism In Haiti Gives A Glimpse Into the Imperialist Shock Doctrine That Could Rattle Venezuela Long After The Earthquakes
01 July 2026
The U.S.

More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio April 28, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 28, 2023
    28 Apr 2023
    In this segment we discuss the shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl, how restoring voting rights of those convicted of felonies increases public safety, and Margaret Kimberley's thoughts on Joe…
  • Gerald Horne on U.S. Foreign Policy - Part 2
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Gerald Horne on U.S. Foreign Policy - Part 2
    28 Apr 2023
    Dr. Gerald Horne is an author and historian who currently holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston.
  • Ralph Yarl and the History of Racist Violence
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ralph Yarl and the History of Racist Violence
    28 Apr 2023
    Dr. Melina Abdullah is Director of Black Lives Matter Grassroots and Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles. She is also a Professor of Pan-African Studies at California State University Los…
  • Restoring Voting Rights for People with Felony Convictions
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Restoring Voting Rights for People with Felony Convictions
    28 Apr 2023
    Dr. Kristen Budd is a Research Analyst with the Sentencing Project. She joins us from Washington to discuss their new report, “Increasing Public Safety by Restoring Voting Rights.” The report…
  • Joe Biden's Re-Election Announcement
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Joe Biden's Re-Election Announcement
    28 Apr 2023
    Margaret Kimberley was a guest on the Sputnik program, The Final Countdown, with hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan. In this excerpt, she discusses the announcement of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us