BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that his country will impose visa requirements on British citizens, in retaliation for a decision made by the United Kingdom to remove Colombia from a list of countries whose nationals can visit Britain without a tourist visa.
In a message published on X, Petro said that due to “the principle of reciprocity” Colombia’s government will begin asking citizens of the UK for visas. He provided no more details on when the visa restrictions will come into effect.
Earlier on Tuesday, the United Kingdom announced that Colombian citizens will no longer be able to travel to that country without a visa. In a statement published on its social media platforms, the British embassy in Colombia said that over the past two years, there has been a “significant” increase in the number of Colombians who arrive at UK airports and make “unjustified” asylum claims.
The United Kingdom had lifted visa restrictions on Colombians in 2022. But its embassy in Bogota said that the recent rise in asylum claims from Colombians had forced the British government to reimpose visa requirements.
“Sadly, the abuses undertaken by a minority of Colombians who have traveled to the United Kingdom, have led our ministers to take this decision,” the statement reads.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, Roy Barreras, Colombia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom said that more than 940 Colombians have made asylum claims in the United Kingdom this year, with some resorting to travel agencies that allegedly teach them how to cheat in their asylum applications. In 2021, only six Colombians made asylum claims in the UK, the ambassador said.
Over the past three years, hundreds of thousands of Colombians have fled to Europe and the United States. Economic stagnation and rising violence in some parts of the country, particularly from rebel groups and drug traffickers, have forced many to seek safety and opportunity abroad.
In 2022, U.S. border patrol agents conducted more than 165,000 arrests of Colombians at the Mexican border. This number decreased slightly to 155,000 in the following year.
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FILE - Colombia's President Gustavo Petro delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of COP16, a United Nations' biodiversity conference, in Cali, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.
On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.
It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.
Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.
Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.
Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.
The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.
Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.
Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.
President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
