Bogota - Saba:
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused his American counterpart Donald Trump of racism, after describing him as a representative of an inferior race, reiterating rejection to shake hands with "white slave traders."
In a lengthy letter addressed to Trump, Petro late on Sunday said Colombia's outlook is no longer directed towards the North but towards all countries of the world.
"I do not like your oil, Trump, because it will destroy the human race because of greed. Maybe one day, I will be able to speak frankly about all of this. But this seems difficult because you consider me to be of an inferior race, although I am not, and this applies to all Colombians," he added.
Petro's letter comes against the backdrop of a serious crisis in relations between the two countries, which erupted after the American side tried to deport illegal Colombian immigrants in chains to their country on military planes, as it had done previously with Brazilians.
According to available reports, Colombia refused to receive these American planes, and then President Petro allocated his presidential plane to transport these migrants.
Trump considered Bogota's refusal a violation of its commitment to accept its deported citizens, and subsequently banned Colombian officials from entering the United States, imposed visa restrictions on their family members and other close associates, and imposed extensive inspections on all Colombian citizens at the US border.
Both countries imposed sanctions on each other's exports, which in the case of the United States could reach 50% (the free trade agreement has been in effect since 2012).
Petro did not rule out, in his message, that Washington might try to organize a military coup to overthrow him, as it did with Salvador Allende in Chile.
"I have resisted torture before and I will be able to resist you. We do not want slave traders near Colombia, we already had many of them but we were finally free. I want only freedom lovers near Colombia," he said.
Petro described Colombia as the heart of the world and the land of butterflies, and described himself as one of the last Aureliano Buendía (a character in the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez), who went from a peaceful life to participating in the armed struggle for the freedom of the people.
Petro said in his message to Trump: "Colombia has now stopped looking north, and has turned its gaze to the world. In our veins flows the blood of the Caliphate of Cordoba... and the Latin Romans of the Mediterranean, that civilization that founded the Republic, and democracy in Athens... We will never allow you to dominate us later."
According to the Colombian president, Washington used force to separate Panama from Colombia and impose its control over the Panama Canal Zone. He stressed that he was not afraid of the American blockade "because Colombia is not only a beautiful country, it is also the heart of the world."
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