On February 28, Israel and the United States attacked Iran, starting a conflict that has sent shockwaves across the Middle East and the rest of the world. In a series of columns, our correspondents tell how the war has been received in countries around the world. Ida Ramberg is FUF's correspondent in Colombia in the spring of 2026.
Among the Colombian mountains, salsa sounds just as usual. At the same time, a war between nuclear powers is raging on the other side of the Atlantic. Many Colombians look almost surprised when I ask about developments in the Middle East, as if they have barely heard that the world (according to some, at least) is on the brink of a third world war.
"We're used to it," said a woman in her twenties, shrugging when I asked if she was worried about a world war.
Many in Colombia simply can't bear to care about what's happening far away when the country has enough of its own problems. I wonder if decades of violence in the country have both created a strong resilience but also sowed a seed of exhaustion.
If so, at least this does not seem to have taken root with the country's President Gustavo Petro. On X, he calls on US President Donald Trump to end the armed conflict in Iran, and stresses the importance of international law. He says that “we are prepared to do everything in our power to achieve peace in the Caribbean, in my country and in the Middle East”
The question is whether Petro is starting to worry that Colombia will become the next pawn in Trump's foreign policy domino game. The arrest of the neighboring country's president Nicolás Maduro is still fresh in the memory and despite the fact that the tone between Trump and Petro softened after a meeting in Washington in February, the relationship is frosty. In December warned Trump because Colombia could be next in line for a “military intervention,” simply because he “heard that Colombia produces cocaine.” Both Venezuela and now Iran seem to have given Petro a clue that Trump’s threats may be more than empty rhetoric. I wonder if Petro has started taking melatonin in the evenings.
While the war continues in the Middle East and many here don't seem to react more strongly than a shrug, I suspect that Petro will continue to resort to the now blunt weapon called international law, hoping that such a designation will keep Colombia out of Trump's domino game.
“We are used to it.”
I hope that salsa can continue to echo among the Colombian mountains.
More perspectives on the war in Iran
This is a chronicle. The author is responsible for analysis and opinions in the text.
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