By Bo Erickson, Luis Jaime Acosta, Gram Slattery and Nelson Bocanegra
WASHINGTON/BOGOTA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro began their first meeting on Tuesday, a White House encounter testing whether they can reach a lasting detente despite clashing ideologies and reputations for unpredictability.
Trump, who has voiced a desire for American dominance over all of Latin America, has in recent months had an up-and-down relationship with Petro, a former anti-imperialist guerrilla who was elected Colombia's president in 2022.
In October, Trump called Petro an "illegal drug leader" though he provided no evidence, and in January, he mooted military action against the longtime ally, which he has accused of failing to control the narcotics trade.
Petro, for his part, has been harshly critical of Trump. He has said the Trump administration's deadly strikes on alleged drug boats amount to war crimes and he described the U.S. operation last month deposing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as a "kidnapping."
In January, the two leaders held a phone call that both described positively, a surprise thaw that resulted in Petro's invitation to Washington. Trump told reporters on Monday that Petro's tone had changed of late, implying that he had become more acquiescent after the Maduro raid.
"We're gonna have a good meeting," Trump said.
Still, if the two men have anything in common, it is that they behave unpredictably, speak elliptically and change opinions quickly. One Colombian source acknowledged that the meeting could be "tense" given the sometimes stubborn personalities of the two presidents.
'THE STAKES ARE HIGH'
At the Tuesday meeting, which began shortly after 11 a.m. local time (1600 GMT), Colombian officials plan to deliver a detailed presentation on their main anti-drug achievements, including figures on cocaine seizures, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
Will Freeman, fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the meeting could go smoothly if Petro sticks to discussing counternarcotics matters, rather than broader philosophical disagreements.
"But everything we know about both presidents' personalities suggests that's not going to happen," he said.
If the two leaders fail to reach a more lasting rapprochement, it could have profound implications for regional security, analysts said.
Colombia is the world's top producer of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, and several U.S.-designated terrorist organizations are present in the country.
But it has also been one of Washington's staunchest allies in the region, working closely with successive administrations to suppress drug flows northward.
Under Petro, coca production in Colombia has climbed, though the exact figures are a matter of dispute. Bogota argues that while the government has shifted away from forced eradication - a policy that can harm subsistence farmers - it has ramped up seizures and more sophisticated interdiction efforts.
'FILL OURSELVES WITH OPTIMISM'
For foreign leaders, meetings with Trump can be fraught, and many have resorted to flattery to minimize tension with the president and his advisers.
It was far from clear, however, that Petro - who has positioned himself as a thorn in Washington's side for almost all of his career - will choose that route.
Last week, he urged Colombian migrants to return from Chile, Argentina and the United States so as not to be treated like "slaves." He also said it is better to live in Havana than in Miami, which he described as traffic-clogged and cultureless.
Colombia requested the White House meeting be held in private, a Colombian official said. But Trump, who is famously media-hungry, often asks reporters to enter the Oval Office at the last minute.
Petro himself struck an upbeat if lofty tone.
"I think we should fill ourselves with optimism," he told public television station RTVC before departing for Washington. "I'll be expecting you on Tuesday, when I am meeting with the president, to be in all the public squares, to build the chain of affection, the certainty of love."
(Reporting by Bo Erickson and Gram Slattery in Washington and Luis Jaime Acosta and Nelson Bocanegra in Bogota; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis in Washington; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Osterman and Mark Heinrich)
