Colombia’s Petro says discussed Venezuelan gas, fight against drugs with Trump

BOGOTA, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro told local radio station Caracol on Tuesday that he and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump had discussed the possibility of exporting Venezuelan gas via Colombia, the fight against drug trafficking and Colombia’s trade and drugs spat with Ecuador at a White House meeting.

The two men have clashed since Trump began his current term, with the U.S. leader repeatedly accusing Petro’s administration, without evidence, of enabling a steady flow of cocaine into the U.S., imposing sanctions on the Colombian leader and threatening military action against the South American country. Petro, in turn, has harshly critiqued U.S. support for Israel and called for criminal proceedings over U.S. missile attacks on suspected drug-running boats in the Caribbean.

But the relationship seemed to thaw last month and photos posted on X by Petro suggested their meeting had been cordial. They discussed the eradication – but not aerial fumigation – of coca crops, Petro said, and he asked Trump to help capture major drug traffickers living internationally and to mediate tensions with Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Luis Jaime Acosta)