Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday (January 7) that he accepted U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to meet in Washington following their first phone conversation, which lasted over an hour and helped ease growing tensions between the two nations.

Petro addressed a crowd at Bogota's historic Bolivar Square after the call, stating he would continue advocating for cooperation on clean energy and expressing hope for peaceful dialogue.

The communication came after tensions escalated over the weekend following the U.S. military incursion in Venezuela that resulted in the overthrow and capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

During his speech, Petro also revealed he had spoken with Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez two days earlier and invited her to Colombia to establish tripartite and potentially global dialogue to stabilize Venezuelan society.

Trump confirmed on Truth Social that the conversation was cordial and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Colombia's Foreign Minister would arrange the White House meeting.

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olombia and the U.S. ease tensions and agree to meeting during phone call, says Petro

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT GUSTAVO PETRO

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE STORY

SHOWS: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (JANUARY 7, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. RALLY CALLED BY COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT GUSTAVO PETRO IN BOGOTA’S MAIN SQUARE, PLAZA BOLIVAR

2. PETRO ARRIVING AT THE STAGE AND GREETING

3. ATTENDEES AT EVENT WITH COLOMBIAN FLAGS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, GUSTAVO PETRO, SAYING:

"Today we spoke on the phone for the first time since he became president (REFERRING TO: U.S. president Donald Trump.) Obviously I had my concerns, I was delayed getting here because the call only ended right before I arrived here, it lasted an hour or more. He let me speak so I tried not to talk too much, but that's hard for me."

5. PETRO DURING SPEECH

6. CAMERA SCREEN RECORDING PETRO'S SPEECH

7. VARIOUS OF PUBLIC WITH FLAGS SUPPORTING PETRO

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, GUSTAVO PETRO, SAYING:

"Peace is found through dialogue and that's why I accept President Trump's proposal to talk. We'll see what comes of it. I'll keep insisting that an alliance is possible in clean energy, because it brings peace and life and love. Colombia knows how to take advantage of peace. Colombia can sleep, I'll let you know if there's anything wrong, hopefully in time, it can sleep peacefully in much of the country, in other parts we know it still can't."

9. VARIOUS OF ATTENDEES AT EVENT DURING PRESIDENT'S SPEECH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, GUSTAVO PETRO, SAYING:

"We can't let our guard down yet, we still need to talk at the White House. I also spoke two days ago with the current president of Venezuela, Delcy. I've known her since the beginning of all this, and I invited her to Colombia. We want to establish a tripartite dialogue and hopefully a global one to stabilize Venezuelan society so that, like in Colombia, it doesn't explode into violence within itself."

11. EVENT ON BOLIVAR SQUARE

12. VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT RAISING A WHITE ROSE AT THE END OF HIS SPEECH