Colombia's Petro calls Netanyahu 'criminal' at UN General Assembly

​​​​​​​By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for attacks on the Gaza Strip during his speech to the UN General Assembly.

"It is in this inequality ... that we find the logic of the mass destruction unleashed by the climate crisis and the logic of the bombs dropped by a criminal like Netanyahu on Gaza," said Petro.

“When Gaza dies, all of humanity will die,” said the president. “Today we have 20,000 dead children. Presidents laugh at this situation in the UN General Assembly.”

The Colombian head of state said only the voices of world powers are heard on the international stage.

“The power of a country in the world is no longer exercised by political and economic power, but by destroying humanity. Those of us who have the power to sustain life speak without being paid attention to. That is why they do not listen to us when we vote to stop the genocide in Gaza. The presidents who can destroy humanity do not listen to us,” he said.

Petro emphasized the importance of an energy transition to stop a climate crisis. He raised a call for action on climate change, warning that 11 million hectares (27 million acres) of the Amazon rainforest have been burned in just one month due to global warming and the climate crisis.

"Scientists said that if the Amazon rainforest burned, we would reach the climatic point of no return, where human decisions to stop the collapse would no longer be harmless. Well, the Amazon rainforest is already burning," he said.

“The people must stop fossil capital," he said. "The chimneys must stop, every corner of the world must stop those chimneys.”

Petro also condemned the blockade of Cuba and Venezuela.

"The powerful global oligarchy allows bombs to be dropped on Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan, or allows the economic blockade of rebellious countries that do not fit into its domain, such as Cuba and Venezuela," he said.