Ex-Colombian Ambassador Pinzon Warns Petro Risks ‘Another Venezuela’

As Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s clash with Donald Trump over Venezuela briefly pushed Washington-Bogotá relations to the brink, one of Colombia’s leading opposition figures is offering a sharply different message: restore security at home and repair ties with Washington.

“The United States is almost [going] to lose Colombia, and Colombia is almost [going] to lose the United States,” Juan Carlos Pinzón, Colombia’s former defense minister and a two-time ambassador to Washington, told Newsweek’s Carlo Versano on the 1600 podcast. “That partnership needs to be recovered, strengthened and updated.”

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Pinzón’s remarks come days after Trump said a potential U.S. military operation in Colombia “sounds good to me,” a comment that fueled protests in Bogotá and prompted Petro to accuse Washington of threatening Colombian sovereignty. The rhetoric escalated after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, an operation Petro condemned before unexpectedly de-escalating tensions during a phone call with Trump that led to an invitation to the White House. Newsweek spoke to Pinzón just before that call between Trump and Petro took place.

Few world leaders have been as critical of the Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela as Petro, a fiery leftist who leads a country long considered the United States’ most reliable regional ally. While Petro has cast himself as a counterweight to Trump, Pinzón warns that he is also pushing the bilateral relationship toward a point of no return.

“We need a government that can recover that partnership, strengthen it, update it, and by the way use it to the benefit of both our nations,” Pinzón said.

Pinzón served as defense minister from 2011 to 2015, a period when Colombia sharply reduced coca cultivation and weakened the FARC guerrilla group. He said those gains were reversed after peace talks with the rebels limited military operations and were further undone by Petro’s “total peace” policy, which he argues has offered incentives to criminal groups instead of dismantling them.

“We have the largest expansion of organized crime in the history of the country,” Pinzón said, citing record levels of cocaine production, illegal mining and extortion. “Security has deteriorated almost everywhere.”

As Petro rallies supporters by warning of U.S. aggression, the center-right Pinzón is positioning himself as a security-first pragmatist—arguing that Colombia’s future depends less on confrontation abroad than on restoring order at home.

“We’ve done it before,” he said. “And we will do it again.”

The former ambassador also warned that Venezuela’s uncertain transition following Maduro’s removal could trigger new security threats for neighboring Colombia—not primarily from refugees, but from armed groups.

“About eight million Venezuelans left their country. Two million stayed in Colombia,” he said. “We opened our arms to them.” His biggest concern, he added, is that Colombian criminal groups operating inside Venezuela—including dissident FARC factions, the ELN and drug traffickers—could cross back into Colombia if power struggles intensify.

“That is what really worries me,” Pinzón said. “They have bad intentions.”

He framed Venezuela as a warning for Colombian voters, arguing that if the country continues on its current path, it risks a similar fate. “If we continue this road,” Pinzón said, “we’re going to have a similar future to what they have.”

Regarding the operation that removed Maduro in Venezuela and the events that followed, Pinzón said he understands why U.S. planners may have preferred an orderly transition, in which elements of the Maduro regime are kept in place for the time being, over chaos. However, he warned that any interim government must represent a clear break from the old regime. 

“It’s necessary to have a transition government different than the one that is led by Delcy Rodríguez in the current situation,” Pinzón said, referring to Maduro’s vice president turned interim leader. “She’s part of the old regime. She has been as responsible for crimes as many others, including Maduro and Chávez.”

Asked why Americans should care about Colombia’s upcoming election, Pinzón pointed to the country’s size and strategic importance. “Colombia is a larger country than Venezuela,” he said. “So if Venezuela is a problem, imagine the kind of problem that Colombia can be.”

Yet, Pinzón also drew a firm line on sovereignty, saying cooperation with Washington does not require foreign troops. “I don’t need any soldier of the United States in my territory,” he said, “other than good friends, good trainers, and good cooperation.”

Watch the full conversation between Juan Carlos Pinzón and Carlo Versano in the video player above or on YouTube.

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