I Will Take Up Arms Again After Threats from the U.S., Says Colombian President

Colombian President Gustavo Petro is prepared to take up arms again following threats from the United States, believing that the people will support him if the U.S. attempts to arrest him, as it did with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

"I swore never to touch a weapon again after signing the peace agreement in 1989, but I will take up arms again for my homeland, which I do not want to do," Petro wrote on his social media pages.

He stated that from that moment on, every Colombian soldier has been ordered: any security commander who "prefers the U.S. flag over the Colombian flag" will be immediately dismissed from their position.

Petro emphasized his deep trust in his people and has therefore asked them to protect the president from any illegal acts of violence. He noted that the means to defend himself is to seize power in all communities of the country, adding that security forces have been instructed to fire not at the people but at the usurpers.

According to the president, he has also ordered the police to relieve several intelligence colonels for providing "false information directed against the state."