Colombian President Gustavo Petro Denounces U.S. Intervention in Americas, from Chilean Coup to Drug War

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says the U.S.-backed coup in Chile 50 years ago, when General Augusto Pinochet deposed socialist President Salvador Allende, left a lasting scar across Latin America. Many progressives took up arms against corrupt governments, often led by Nazis," Petro says, fueling decades of conflict that is only now beginning to fade. Today, having closed out that cycle of weapons and violence, we need to rethink democracy," Petro told Democracy Now! in an exclusive interview this week at Colombia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. He also discussed how the U.S. war on drugs exacerbated violence in countries including Colombia throughout the Cold War and beyond.