The government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced this Thursday (23) its intention to convene a National Constituent Assembly to reform the country’s Constitution, amid growing diplomatic tension with the United States. The announcement comes after American President Donald Trump suspended all financial aid to Bogotá and called Petro a “thug” and “bad guy”.
The proposal was presented by the Minister of Justice, Eduardo Montealegre, during an official visit to China. According to him, the objective of the Constituent Assembly is “to build the foundations of the transformation that Colombia needs”. Montealegre explained that the Constituent Assembly would be made up of 71 delegates, divided equally between men and women, and that the project seeks to “boost the social program that the cave did not allow the first left-wing government in our history to develop”.
The Colombian government states that the new constitutional text does not intend to dissolve Congress or annul international commitments, but rather to update the Magna Carta on social and human rights issues. Petro intends to begin collecting signatures in support of the convocation of the Constituent Assembly during an event this Friday (24), a measure that would be the first formal step towards submitting the proposal to Congress and the Constitutional Court.
“The Constituent Assembly will be the space to think about a new country through the confrontation of arguments, and not through the violence that warlords want to impose on us”, declared Montealegre.
The announcement comes at a time when the White House intensifies criticism of the Colombian president. US government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there were no signs of a de-escalation of tensions.
“I don’t think we’re seeing a de-escalation from Colombia’s unbalanced leader right now, and I don’t think the president [Trump]frankly, be interested in that at this point,” Leavitt said.
Trump confirmed this week that he had cut all payments to Colombia, accusing Petro of “manufacturing a lot of drugs” and “not combating drug trafficking.”
In response, Petro accused Trump of trying to interfere in the 2026 Colombian elections.
“The magnitude of Trump’s insult to Colombia and myself is no longer aimed at achieving an effective anti-drug strategy, but rather at affecting Colombia’s elections next year,” said the president on his X network account. He also accused the United States of committing “extrajudicial executions” during naval operations.
Initiative criticized
The project to convene the National Constituent Assembly was not well received by several sectors of the country, who criticize both the initiative itself and the chosen moment – just five months before the legislative elections in March 2026 and seven months before the presidential elections in May.
“Playing with a Constituent Assembly just a few months before a presidential election is setting democracy on fire with electoral matches,” said presidential candidate Juan Manuel Galán on the social network X. He added that “calling it now is not only unfeasible, it is monumentally imprudence.”
Former president Andrés Pastrana also spoke out, saying that the proposal “is unconstitutional, inconvenient, unnecessary and is just another government smokescreen” to hide its problems.
Right-wing presidential pre-candidate Juan Carlos Pinzón was even more incisive. According to him, Petro appeals to the Constituent Assembly “a few months before leaving office, and this solves nothing, harms jobs and investments, creates tension and social unrest and generates more chaos and uncertainty in the country”.
“At any other time, it would be more of a joke, but today he seeks to remain in power or impose narco-communism à la Maduro. It’s the usual with Petro – he puts Colombians aside to benefit himself. Neither the country will accept this, nor should Congress allow it”, added Pinzón.
