GEOFF BENNETT: Well, the situation in Venezuela's neighbor to the West, Colombia, is tense tonight.

Though it's a major non-NATO ally of the U.S., President Trump has threatened its president, Gustavo Petro, repeatedly, alleging without evidence he has ties to the drug trade.

And millions of Venezuelans fled to Colombia during Maduro's rule and are following this weekend's events closely.

Joining us now from Bogota is special correspondent Monica Villamizar.

Thank you for being with us.

So we know that Colombia is responding forcefully after President Trump suggested its president, in his words, could be next following the U.S.

military operation in Venezuela.

How are Colombian leaders and the public there interpreting and responding to President Trump's statement?

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: President Petro, there's absolutely no proof.

He has no indictment for drug trafficking.

So he sits at the polar opposite of President Trump.

He was a left-wing guerrilla fighter, but he demobilized with M-19 guerrilla group in the 90s.

And I say this because today he said he's left arms back in the '90s, but he is willing to pick them up again and ready to defend his country if it is attacked, so very strong words from the president and the government.

They have been very critical about what happened in Venezuela as well.

And like other Latin American leaders, they stand by the claims that this is against international law and the country's sovereignty.

As for the Colombian people, likewise, many people here are thinking this is a colonial attitude.

The United States has -- Latin America has been sort of the backyard for the United States, and people are not happy with such blatant interference, like removing a president, even though he was not a popular one in the case of Venezuela.

But, also, very right-wing Colombians are growing, I must say, increasingly worried about Petro, and they say he has tendencies that are showing that he is increasingly populist and may perhaps want to remain in power.

There's upcoming elections May 31, so there's a lot going on here in Colombia as well.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, give us some background on the Trump-Petro relationship.

Where did this tension begin?

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Absolutely.

Like I said, they sit at polar opposites, right?

Petro is a very left-wing leaning president.

They started having frictions back when the mass deportations started taking place.

If you remember, there were planes filled with Colombians undocumented arriving here shackled, and Petro said, this is not acceptable, this is not dignified.

That's when it sort of all -- it all started.

And then the sort of highest point was back in September at the National Assembly in New York.

Petro criticized the drug policy of President Donald Trump and the White House, and then he joined a rally in New York in the streets.

He took a megaphone.

It was a pro-Palestinian rally, I think, and he started saying, I call on the U.S.

soldiers to disobey their commander in chief.

And that obviously caused a lot of rage in President Trump and the American government, obviously, in general.

They placed them on what we call the Clinton list colloquially.

It's basically they removed his visa, and he cannot conduct any transactions with individuals, corporations, or companies that use the American financial system.

GEOFF BENNETT: Colombia hosts the world's largest Venezuelan diaspora, millions of people displaced by the Maduro government.

What are Venezuelans living in Colombia telling you right now?

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: That's a great point.

And let me remind you that we don't know the exact number of Venezuelans living here, but it's estimated that it could be up to 3 million people.

A lot of them are documented.

A lot of them are not.

When Maduro was flown out of Venezuela, I can tell you I heard people honking their horns in the street right underneath this rooftop.

I heard a friend telling me that her neighbors were screaming, "We're going to pack our bags and we're going to return."

But I think those attitudes have been much tempered recently because, as our correspondent in Caracas said, people are now wondering, wait, was there a regime change?

Can we go back?

A lot of people see Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge, who is the head of the Assembly, let's remember, as a continuation very much of the Maduro regime, which is the continuation of the Chavez Bolivarian Revolution put in place in 1999, when Chavez modified the Constitution.

GEOFF BENNETT: Special correspondent Monica Villamizar joining us from Bogota tonight, thanks again for your time.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Thank you.