Colombia's far-left President Gustavo Petro has declared that neither Israel nor the United States are “God's children” and denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “criminal.” speech Attending the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
Calling for a “global revolution” and the creation of a “global public authority” powered by artificial intelligence, Petro blamed “the richest one percent of humanity, a powerful global oligarchy” for allowing the bombing of “Gaza and Sudan” and accused free market thinking of leading to the “maximization of death.”
Petro said those brandishing the bombs were “racists, supremacists and people who foolishly believe that Aryans are a superior race.”
“A domination of humanity based on barbarism is being built, and Gaza is the proof of that. If Gaza falls, humanity falls,” Peter said. “The people of God are not Israel or the United States, but all humanity and the people of Gaza are indeed humanity, the chosen people of God.”
“[Benjamin] “Netanyahu is a hero to the richest one percent of humanity because he can show that bombs destroy people,” he continued.
Petro, an ardent communist and member of the Colombian Marxist terrorist guerrilla group M19 in his youth, severed diplomatic ties with Israel in May following Israel's operation in self-defense against Hamas jihadist terrorists. The severance came after Petro publicly likened Israel's invasion of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to prevent a repeat of the atrocities of the October 7 attack on Israel to Nazi Germany.
The far-left president slammed that “no one listens” to governments like his, which are calling for an end to the “genocide” in Gaza, “decarbonizing” the world and offering debt forgiveness in exchange for climate action. Petro argued that instead they are listening to governments that have the “power to destroy life.”
Colombia's far-left president also criticized the free market, accusing “the richest one percent” of pushing for an end to the use of oil and coal and driving the “climate crisis.” Citing the election slogan of neighboring Argentina's fervent anti-Communist President Javier Milley, Petro argued that those who shout “Long live Liberty, damn it!” are the ones leading humanity to “the destruction of the atmosphere and of life.”
“They [“the richest 1 percent”] “They are the ones who fund election campaigns, who own the media, who hide the truth from science like in the movie 'Don't Look Up,' who tell them what to think, what to say, what to ban and silence,” Petro said.
Petro also accused “global oligarchy” of “economically blockading rebel nations” such as Cuba and Venezuela. Notably, Petro did not condemn those regimes for their history of human rights violations against their own people.
The Colombian president also mentioned socialism, arguing that the “red flag” of socialism, which never earned its place in history, must now be “of all colors.”
“Today the word socialism has a different meaning. People are stronger if they help each other. That is the basis of socialism,” Petro said.
Petro ended his speech by calling for a “world revolution” and stressing the need to “build the strongest army in history, made up of warriors for life” to overthrow the “global oligarchy.”
“It is the responsibility of humanity to fight this battle. The time has come for the people to take care of their own problems. We must rely on the people. New leaders will emerge, the oligarchy will be overthrown. A new history is about to begin,” he concluded.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
