COLOMBIA’S foreign minister has “renounced” her United States visa to protest a decision by the US State Department to revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, the Colombian government said on Monday.

The decision by Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio comes as tensions between both nations escalated over issues that include drug policy, the war in Gaza and a US naval buildup in neighbouring Venezuela.

Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry did not respond to questions about what kind of visa Ms Villavicencio held, but said in a statement that it was not interested in “diplomatic visas that limit opinions” or curtail the nation’s “sovereignty.”

Later on Monday, Colombian Finance Minister German Avila wrote in a post on the X social media platform that he would stop using his visa in “solidarity” with President Petro, and because of the “aggression” he was subjected to by the US.

Mr Avila wrote: “To work for our people, we do not need visas.”

The US State Department revoked Mr Petro’s visa on Friday after he participated in a protest in New York against the war in Gaza, in which Mr Petro called for the creation of an international army to liberate the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Holding a megaphone and wearing a kaffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf, Mr Petro called on US soldiers to “disobey” President Donald Trump's orders, saying that they should “not point their rifles against humanity.”

Hours after the protest, the State Department announced on social media that it would cancel Mr Petro’s visa ”due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”

Mr Petro was back in Colombia when the visa announcement was made, after having spent several days in New York attending the UN general assembly.

He wrote on X that he “didn’t care” about the punishment because he is also an Italian citizen, and could possibly travel to the US without a visa.

The revocation of Mr Petro’s visa marks a new low in the left-wing leader’s relations with the Trump administration, which earlier this month placed Colombia on a list of countries that it says are not fulfilling their international commitments to curb drug trafficking.

Soon after Mr Trump returned to the White House in January, Mr Petro refused to accept military flights carrying deportees in the new US administration crackdown on immigration.

Mr Petro slammed the Trump administration and accused the White House of treating his country’s citizens like animals.