BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro attempted to ease tensions with the United States in June by sending a letter to President Donald Trump saying he did not intend to accuse U.S. officials of trying to overthrow his government.
The confidential letter, dated June 23, was leaked to Colombian media outlets on Monday. Relations between the two countries are at their worst since the 1990s, when the U.S. stripped a Colombian president of his visa following allegations that his campaign was financed by drug traffickers.
In the June 23 letter, Petro appears to backtrack from comments made during a speech on June 11, where he accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of leading a plot to overthrow his government. Petro had said in the speech that “a neighboring President” had told him that Rubio was leading a plot against him.
“I would like to clarify that any expression of mine, which may have been interpreted as a direct accusation about participation in a coup attempt in Colombia had no in intention of signaling anyone personally or questioning the role of the United States, without any proof,” Petro writes in the letter. He also suggests that both Presidents should lead a U.S. - Latin America summit.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday she was not sure if Trump had seen the letter. Petro did not immediately comment on the letter after it was leaked to the press Monday. Colombia's Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia confirmed the letter was sent last month as part of an effort to “strengthen" the relation between both countries.
On Thursday, the U.S. recalled its top diplomat from Colombia with the State Department citing “baseless and reprehensible statements from the highest levels” of Colombia’s government.
Colombia replied by recalling its ambassador from Washington in what Petro described as an effort to review the bilateral relationship, and analyze what kind of progress has been made on issues such as fighting climate change and “attacking” the international finances of drug traffickers.
Colombia and the U.S. have long been partners in the fight against the cocaine trade, with the South American country receiving more than $13 billion in U.S. aid over the past two decades.
But the relationship has changed since Petro came into office in 2022, with the Colombian president prioritizing issues like climate change and the transition to clean forms of energy.
Petro and Trump clashed in January after Colombia’s president refused to accept two deportation flights operated by the U.S. military, arguing that Colombian citizens on the planes were being subjected to inhumane conditions.
Trump threatened Colombia with 25% tariffs after the planes were prevented from landing, but the dispute was resolved within hours through a deal in which Colombia agreed to send its own planes to the U.S. to pick up Colombian migrants that have been handed deportation orders.
In June, Petro accused U.S. Congressmen Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz Balart of trying to overthrow him.
The congressmen were mentioned in recordings in which Colombia’s former foreign minister, Alvaro Leyva, discusses plans to remove Petro from office, with an unnamed source. Both have denied any involvement in plans to remove Petro.
Last week, Colombian prosecutors opened an investigation into the recordings, which were leaked to the Spanish newspaper El País.
Tensions between Colombia and the United States come as cocaine production in Colombia reaches records levels, with Colombia’s coca crop reaching 253,000 hectares (976 square miles) in 2023, according to the United Nations, a 40% increase from 2020.
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro raises a fist before signing a labor reform bill into law in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
