President Trump met with left-wing Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday to discuss drug trafficking and the path forward on Venezuela after a U.S. raid to capture President Nicolas Maduro.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Petro met behind closed doors after the Colombian arrived at the White House, roughly an hour before noon.
Mr. Petro used a side entrance instead of entering through the traditional North Portico, where leaders often enter with traditional military honor guards or ceremonial protocols.
The meeting lasted for two hours, and Mr. Petro departed the White House without either leader facing the media.
The pair is trying to improve a relationship that has been frosty at times but is taking on new urgency because the U.S. has partial control of Colombia’s neighbor, Venezuela, and its oil reserves. Mr. Trump also put a premium on thwarting drug traffickers from South America, and Colombia is historically a top cocaine producer.
Mr. Trump has accused the Petro government of failing to stem the northbound flow of cocaine, and has threatened military strikes on land targets if the problem is not fixed.
Mr. Petro, meanwhile, criticized lethal U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. He also compared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to “Nazi brigades” and accused Washington of treating sovereign nations as part of its “empire.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio granted Mr. Petro a temporary U.S. entry authorization so he could attend the Trump meeting with a revoked visa, suggesting that tensions between the two nations may be thawing.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Petro seemed to undergo an attitude adjustment after the Jan. 3 raid that captured Mr. Maduro and flew him to New York to face narco-terrorism charges.
“He’s been very nice over the last month or two. They were certainly critical before that, but somehow, after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice. He changed his attitude very much,” Mr. Trump said Monday.
Elsewhere, China on Tuesday continued to criticize the U.S. over the Maduro raid.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the U.S. “blatantly launched military strikes against Venezuela and forcibly seized President Maduro and his wife.”
“Such hegemonic moves seriously violated international law, infringed upon Venezuela’s sovereignty and threatened peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean. China firmly opposes this,” he said. “China supports Venezuela in safeguarding its sovereignty, dignity and lawful rights, and will work with the international community to firmly defend the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, the fundamental principles of international justice, and international fairness.”
Mr. Trump is deploying a so-called “Donroe” Doctrine to establish the U.S. as the main player in the Western Hemisphere while stiff-arming rivals such as Russia and China, who have cozied up to countries like Cuba and Venezuela.
