ISTANBUL

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s comments labeling him “a thug and a bad man,” saying he will defend himself through legal channels in the US after accusations that link Colombia to drug production.

“From the slanders that have been cast against me in the territory of the United States by high-ranking officials, I will defend myself judicially with American lawyers in the American justice system,” Petro said on the US social media company X, without directly naming Trump.

Referring to recent attacks on boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the Caribbean, Petro said: “I will always stand against genocides and murders by those in power in the Caribbean. When our help is required to fight against drug trafficking, American society will have it. We will fight against the drug traffickers with the states that want our help.”

In another post, he said that the US government “seems to reject its own experience built with Colombia and changes the strategy to a mistaken one, which undermines the sovereignty of Latin American and Caribbean countries.”

“The magnitude of Trump’s insult to Colombia and to myself no longer aims to achieve an effective anti-drug trafficking strategy but to affect Colombia’s elections next year,” he added, accusing Trump of seeking “once again the triumph of the extreme right, which is strongly and provenly linked to drug trafficking but obedient in complying with invasions.”

Earlier, Trump threatened to take “very serious action” against Colombia, which he accused of manufacturing illegal drugs that are brought into the US.

“He better watch it, or we'll take very serious action against him and his country,” he said, referring to Petro, who has been a vocal critic of Trump on several issues, including US strikes on vessels that it claims were carrying drugs through international waters.

Trump also called Petro a “thug and bad guy” and accused the South American country of producing illegal drugs that are “coming into the United States…generally through Mexico.”