Brett Wilkins
Sep 24, 2025

In his stirring final speech to a United Nations General Assembly, Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday called for an international armed intervention to end Israel’s nearly two-year genocide in Gaza.

“We need a powerful army of the countries that do not accept genocide,” Petro, who is in his last year in office and is limited under Colombian law to a single presidential term, told world leaders gathered in New York. “That is why I invite nations of the world and their peoples more than anything, as an integral part of humanity, to bring together weapons and armies.”

“We must liberate Palestine,” he asserted. “I invite the armies of Asia, the great Slavic people who defeated Hitler with great heroism, and the Latin American armies of Bolívar.”

“We’ve had enough words; it’s time for Bolívar’s sword of liberty or death,” Petro argued, referring to the 19th century Latin American independence hero Simón Bolívar.