Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Collected photo

BOGOTÁ, Jan 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday he would "take up arms" in the face of threats from US counterpart Donald Trump, who over the weekend seized the leader of neighboring Venezuela in a military strike.

Petro, a former guerrilla who has for months been the target of insults and threats from Trump, said on X: "I swore not to touch a weapon again... but for the homeland I will take up arms again."

Trump said over the weekend that Petro should "watch his ass" and described Colombia's first-ever leftist leader as "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States."