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

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Denial is Not a River in Egypt, or in Venezuela
03 June 2026
The U.S. regime change plot against Venezuela succeeded and created a puppet state.
David Escobar
Colombia: An ethical revolution (with a grassroots focus) / Una revolución ética (con acento popular)
03 June 2026
Colombia's presidential election will be held on June 21st as Historic Pact candidate Ivan Cepeda runs against the Trump endorsed right wing ca
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
SPEECH: Statement at the 19th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, 1964
27 May 2026
“Cuba ...
Hanna Eid
Imperialism and the Arab World: An Interview with Tara Alami
27 May 2026
Compliant Arab regimes spent decades spreading anti-Iran propaganda, but the current assault on Iran is shattering those lies.
Elías Jaua , Federico Fuentes
Former Chávez VP: Venezuela Needs a New ‘struggle for liberation’
27 May 2026
A former vice-president who served with Hugo Chávez provides analysis on what he calls neo-colonial control and coercion the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Betrayal in Venezuela
20 May 2026
Venezuela’s betrayal of Alex Saab in handing him over to the U.S. leaves little room for debate.
Tamanisha J. John
Annexationist Chauvinism: There is No Justification for the Venezuela-Guyana Essequibo Border Dispute
20 May 2026
The Essequibo dispute benefits Exxon Mobil and the Pentagon while crushing anti-imperialist solidarity.
Orinoco Tribune
Venezuela: Diosdado Cabello and Delcy Rodríguez Justify Controversial Alex Saab Deportation Amid Growing Backlash
20 May 2026
Delcy Rodríguez insists that every decision made since January 3 serves to benefit Venezuela. The deportation of Alex Saab to the U.S.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
LETTER: Pedro Pérez Sarduy to Carlos Moore, 1990
06 May 2026
“I felt proud to be black in a country in revolution with a leader of Iberian ancestry who had launched Operation Carlota, in one of
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: The Class War in Cuba, Julio Antonio Mella, 1926
22 April 2026
“This pamphlet is a response to the bloody offensive by our tyrant and his master –Yankee capitalist imperialism.”

More Stories


  • Erica Caines
    Dialectics, Iran and the Long Durée of Anticolonial Revolution
    08 Apr 2026
    The war on Iran is part of a class war against any country that refuses to open itself up for foreign profit. Understanding Iran means seeing its fight as part of the same struggle that defines the…
  • Adam Mahoney
    An Oil Explosion in a Black Texas Town Traces Back to Trump’s Iran and Venezuela Crises
    08 Apr 2026
    “The chickens have come home to roost,” one resident said. “Our exact fears have come true.”
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 3, 2026
    03 Apr 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the impact on the voting rights of Black people if the SAVE Act is signed into law. But we begin with a discussion of an historic vote at the United Nations which…
  • UN resolution vote
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Crime Against Humanity
    03 Apr 2026
    Kwesi Pratt Jr. is General Secretary of the Socialist Movement of Ghana.
  • Stop the SAVE Act
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Votes Jeopardized by the SAVE Act
    03 Apr 2026
    The SAVE Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to be presented in person in order to register to vote in this country and would disenfranchise millions of people who are currently able to vote…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us