Colombian President Gustavo Petro meets Pope León XIV in Vatican

President Gustavo Petro traveled to Rome for an official audience with Pope León XIV at the Vatican a month before the end of his term. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio, ambassador Iván Velásquez, the director of Dapre, the ambassador to the FAO, and his daughter Andrea Petro with grandchildren.

The meeting focused on the “positive and constant collaboration” between the Catholic Church and the Colombian state, covering national peace and reconciliation, organized crime, climate change and agrarian reform. Petro asked the Pope for support to protect peasant communities facing land‑grab attempts by criminal groups. The Vatican’s diplomatic engagement is seen as a signal of continuity for Colombia’s post‑conflict process, a point of interest for Spain, which has deep economic and historical ties with Colombia.