Colombia's Gustavo Petro accuses Trump of interfering in presidential election

Colombian outgoing President Gustavo Petro has accused the US President Donald Trump of intervening in the country's election after Trump endorsed him in Colombia's election. In an interview with CBS News, Petro said that Washington's endorsement of far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella abandons its purported mission against drug trafficking. He accused Washington of supporting narco-paramilitarism, underscoring Trump's support of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in the U.S. of trafficking and recently pardoned by Trump.

"Their (US) allies in Colombia come from the narco-paramilitary regime; they are genocidal and drug traffickers," Petro told AFP in an interview at the presidential palace.

47-year-old De la Espriella had a controversial decades-long career as a high-profile criminal defence attorney representing notorious underworld figures, drug traffickers and soccer players. US President Donald Trump's endorsement came exactly two days after the May 31 first-round election results, where Abelardo de la Espriella shocked pollsters by winning 43.74 per cent of the vote. Trump posted a "complete and total endorsement" for De la Espriella as a "smart, strong, and tough leader" who would bring back law and order. Espriella has promised to deepen US-Colombian relations "like never before" if elected.

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De la Espriella is followed by leftist Iván Cepeda with 40.9 per cent. While Cepeda has the backing of Petro, Espriella has the backing of former President Alvaro Uribe, who is accused of colluding with paramilitaries behind the massacres of thousands of civilians during the worst years of Colombia's more-than-six-decade conflict. Both Cepeda and Petro accused the paramilitaries of "genocide" of leftist political activists and politicians.

"In Colombia, hatred immediately produces deaths," he said. "Promoting a discourse of hatred, as is happening these days, 'gut the progressives…' is inciting a violence that could become unstoppable in this country," Petro admitted to the increase in organised crimes, but said that the social crimes or crimes due to erosion of the social fabric have decreased.

Petro said that the point of difference between the Trump administration and the Cuban government is that they are “progressives, because we are on the left, and because we disagree on issues like Gaza.”