'Come get me': Colombia's president issues stunning rebuke to Trump's threats against country
The US President called Petro a "sick man who likes making cocaine" in an apparent threat
Colombia's president has laid down the gauntlet to Donald Trump after the US's daring special forces raid to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
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The left-wing president Gustavo Petro issued a strong response after he was namedropped by Trump, whom he called a "sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States".
In a startling answer, Mr Petro said: "Come get me".
Petro added in a challenge to Trump: "I'm waiting for you here. Don't threaten me, I'll wait for you right here if you want to."
The rebuke of Trump follows rampant speculation about further military incursions in neighbouring countries including Greenland, Colombia, and Cuba.
Read More: Sir Jeremy Hunt warns Trump threats to annex Greenland could see end of NATO
Petro is a long-standing critic of US interventionism and is himself a former guerrilla fighter.
Trump's originally stated goal in the Venezuela operation was to disrupt the flow of narcotics into the US.
Colombia is famed for being a hub for cocaine production.
On Monday, Mr Trump denied being at war with the country but instead told reporters on Monday: "We're at war with people that sell drugs."
It comes after Mr Maduro, 63, made his first court appearance in the US after he and his wife Cilia Flores were captured at their home in Caracas on Saturday.
Maduro told the court earlier on Monday: "I'm a president and prisoner of war. I am not guilty, I am a decent man, I am still the president of my country."
Maduro appeared in court wearing a prison jumpsuit alongside his wife, who also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The couple faces drug and weapons charges that carry the death penalty if convicted. Their next court appearance will be on March 17.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Trump told NBC News that it was an "extraordinary moment in history."
The Venezuelan leader arrived in New York earlier today in shackles and surrounded by armed officers as he prepared for his first court appearance.
He was seen wearing a brown prison jumpsuit as he was dragged from a helicopter in chains, after he was flown across the East River from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.