Heil Hitler? Petro links Israel to ‘Nazi’ tactics in Latin America
Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused Israel and the US of bringing political manipulation from “free Palestine” to “free Latin America,” drawing a sharp rebuke from Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon on Monday.
Petro made the claim while denouncing a billboard campaign against left-wing Colombian politician Iván Cepeda, which he described as criminal and compared to Nazi propaganda tactics.
“Ni Rubio se atrevió a decir esto,” Petro wrote in Spanish, meaning “Not even Rubio dared to say this,” in an apparent reference to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Petro said the billboard was “a crime,” while accusing Colombian electoral and legal authorities of failing to act. In the same post, he appeared to connect the campaign to Israel and the US, writing that those behind such tactics had acted in “free Palestine” and were now planning to do the same in “free Latin America.”
Danon responded directly to Petro on X/Twitter.
“President of Colombia, @petrogustavo, whatever is going on in your personal life, there are lines that must never be crossed,” Danon wrote.
Danon, who returned to the UN post in 2024 after previously serving as Israel’s ambassador to the world body from 2015 to 2020, has often used social media to respond to international criticism of Israel.
Petro has been one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Latin America since the October 7 massacre and the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
In September 2025, Petro’s US visa was revoked after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York and called on US soldiers to disobey orders. Days later, he announced that Colombia would expel Israeli diplomats after Israel intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla.
The latest exchange added a new layer to the long-running diplomatic feud. Petro was responding to a Colombian political controversy, but his post quickly expanded the dispute into an attack involving Israel, the US, Nazi propaganda, Palestine, and Latin America.