Gustavo Petro to travel to New York to meet Mayor Zohran Mamdani
The progressive leaders will discuss proposals to ‘combat inequality’ and ‘strengthen democracy’. It’ll be Mamdani’s first meeting as a mayor with a head of State
Colombian President Gustavo Petro is scheduled to travel to New York in a couple of weeks to meet with the city’s mayor and a leading figure of the global left, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, EL PAÍS has learned. The trip is set for June 12, a little less than two weeks after the first round of Colombia’s presidential election, which will be held this coming Sunday. If that vote does not produce a successor to Petro, a runoff will be held on June 21. In any case, the winner will take office on August 7.
The meeting in New York will take the form of an event titled “Dignity in Democracy,” convened to answer the question of how the left can “combat” inequality and “strengthen democracy.”
It will be the first time Mamdani has hosted a head of state since assuming the office of mayor. The two leaders had already met during Petro’s visit to the city for the United Nations General Assembly last September, when Mamdani was still a candidate. The Colombian president celebrated his electoral victory a little more than a month later with a message on X that read: “The people of New York deserve their Statue of Liberty.”
The growing power of the oligarchy will be another key item on the agenda at their meeting. “Around the world, billionaires and corporations tighten their grip on housing, health care, transportation, media — even democracy itself,” explains Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs in New York City Ana María Archila. Born in Colombia, Archila has focused since her February appointment on deepening relations with foreign leaders who share Mamdani’s worldview.
“Those with the most seek to deepen their power by turning working people against one another,” she says. “They ask us to blame migrants for falling wages instead of bosses who exploit labor. They ask us to blame the poor for poverty instead of systems designed to manufacture deprivation.” For Archila, the prospect of the meeting between Petro and Mamdani shows “what’s possible when leaders govern with a steadfast commitment to improve the lives of working people and stand together across borders to combat the gross inequality that is threatening democracy everywhere.”
In addition to both having active — though certainly distinct — social media profiles, the two politicians share having been targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump. In Mamdani’s case, the Republican made him one of his favorite targets during the blistering campaign that made history when he became the first Muslim to win the New York mayoralty. Later, there were two extravagant meetings between the two at the White House in which the president lavished praise on a man he had previously insulted, labeled “a communist,” and predicted would bring moral and economic ruin to the city where Trump was born nearly 80 years ago.
In his first months at City Hall, Mamdani has managed to present a balanced budget, but that has not silenced wealthy critics of his pledges to tax the rich and freeze protected rents. Nor has it dampened criticism from certain sectors of the Jewish community over his defense of Palestinian rights.
Despite those two displays of rapport, the mayor, who faces a new challenge from June 11 as the host mayor of a city staging the World Cup, has not softened his opposition to Trump’s policies nor his defense of migrant communities.
Petro, who this week again attacked the U.S. president over the suicide of a Colombian citizen detained by ICE, also visited the White House. That visit took place in February after months of back-and-forth between the two leaders. His last trip to New York left a mark. It was during the United Nations General Assembly in September. Then, the first leftist president in Colombia’s history spoke to the General Assembly and later took part in a street protest alongside musician Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) in support of Palestine. With a megaphone in hand, he urged U.S. soldiers not to follow Trump’s orders in Gaza.
On Petro’s return flight to Bogotá, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced his government’s decision to revoke his visa because of what he had said. The Colombian president later said he intended to return to New York. He will follow through on those plans on June 12.
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