Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned the OAS that the regional body must pivot toward the protection of “collective rights” to remain relevant in a global landscape marked by environmental and political instability.
The speech, delivered on the third day of Petro’s high-stakes state visit to the United States, challenged the hemispheric organization to expand its founding human rights conventions to specifically include protections for women and the natural world.
Petro framed the current institutional crisis as a definitive choice between “civilization or barbarism,” asserting that the OAS risks falling into the same “incapacity” he attributes to the United Nations.
During his nearly 40-minute alocution, the Colombian leader specifically criticized the UN for its inability to stop the violence in Gaza, suggesting that multilateral organizations are failing to meet the urgent challenges of the 21st century. He expressed frustration that a proposal he made two years ago to create a working group for expanding collective rights had been met with silence.
Petro says the OAS must expand its convention on human rights
“The OAS must expand its Inter-American Convention on human rights to women or to nature if it wants to survive,” Petro declared before the assembly of ambassadors.
He argued that the original 1948 convention is a product of a “very liberal” era focused strictly on individual rights, whereas modern progress must be enlightened by science to address the “collective” nature of the human brain and global environmental threats. The Colombian president devoted a significant portion of his remarks to the climate crisis, noting that 75 percent of the current environmental collapse is driven by the consumption of coal, oil, and gas.
Citing scientific projections, Petro warned that future generations are destined to live worse lives than their ancestors if the current global economic model continues to “burn” the planet’s progress through hydrocarbon use. He urged the OAS to become a forum for “climate rights,” a move he described as a necessary evolution for any progressive institution.
Petro condemned the US’s capture of Nicolas Maduro
Following the formal session, Petro addressed the capture of Nicolás Maduro by United States forces, an event that has dominated regional diplomacy since early January.
While he avoided discussing his Tuesday meeting with President Donald Trump during his main speech, he used a subsequent address to reiterate Colombia’s condemnation of the unilateral military action.
Petro maintained that no country in Latin America should ever invade another and noted that he could not officially debate the Venezuelan crisis within the council while that nation remains without representation, characterizing such political exclusion as a form of violence.
Petro met US Senator Rand Paul
Prior to his intervention at the OAS, Petro held a series of strategic meetings at the organization’s headquarters, including a bilateral session with OAS Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin and a dialogue with Tania Reneaum, the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
These sessions were preceded by a meeting with US Senator Rand Paul, the Republican lawmaker credited with facilitating the initial communication between the Trump and Petro administrations that led to this week’s state visit.
Ambassador Daniel García-Peña and Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio have described the overall tone of the Washington agenda as constructive, highlighting a positive shift in relations between Bogotá and the White House. Petro is scheduled to continue his official activities through Thursday, including an expected meeting with the Colombian diaspora at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.