US restricting freedom, after Mamdani-Petro visit canceled

• US reportedly cited limits on Petro’s diplomatic visa
• Dispute reflects ongoing tensions between Petro and Trump

Leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro launched a sharp attack against the United States on Thursday, accusing Washington of violating his personal freedom by blocking a scheduled meeting with New York City’s newly elected Democratic mayor, Zohran Mamdani.

The Washington Post reported that the high-profile meeting was set to take place while Petro was in New York to attend official sessions at the United Nations headquarters.

However, unnamed sources revealed that Bogota was forced to cancel the appointment after US officials explicitly warned the Colombian government that the meeting would violate the terms of the strict visa restrictions imposed on Petro last year amid a severe diplomatic fallout with the Trump administration.

Visa Restrictions 

Following the US visa ban leveled against him last year, Petro is barred from entering standard US territory.

He is currently only permitted to enter the United States under a restrictive diplomatic visa that confines his itinerary exclusively to official UN assignments and multilateral headquarters.

Petro on Thursday expressed his grievances, claiming he was never properly notified that his physical movements within the city would be policed so rigidly.

"I consider restricting my freedom to speak with the Mayor of New York to be completely undemocratic," Petro wrote. "The same applies to the restriction of my intellectual freedom by preventing me from delivering a lecture I was invited to give in Boston."

Deepening ideological rift 

The blocked meeting carries significant political weight. Mayor Mamdani was elected to City Hall on a staunchly socialist platform focused heavily on immigrant integration and sanctuary protections, a policy agenda widely viewed as a direct, localized rejection of Donald Trump's hardline federal immigration policies.

Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, has frequently clashed with the current US administration over a turbulent array of geopolitical issues.

Relations between Bogota and Washington have steadily deteriorated over mass immigrant deportations, lethal US military strikes on suspected maritime drug-smuggling vessels, and public American criticism surrounding the effectiveness of Petro's domestic counter-narcotics strategies.