"I have invited Venezuela's current president (Delcy Rodriguez) to act jointly with us on this," Petro wrote on X, calling on her to help see drug gangs "defeated by our nations in unity."

On Wednesday, the leftist Petro agreed in a call with Trump to take "joint action" against the cocaine-smuggling guerrillas that operate along Colombia's border with Venezuela.

The call marked a sharp de-escalation after months of tensions between the two.

Trump said Friday that he had invited Petro to visit the White House in February.

Washington has previously accused Trump arch-critic Petro of drug trafficking over Colombia's mass production of cocaine.

Shortly after the US ouster of Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro on Saturday Trump told Petro to "watch his ass."

Colombia and Venezuela share a porous 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border where various armed groups vie for control of the profits from drug trafficking, illegal mining and smuggling.

Colombia's government said Petro asked Trump to help "strike hard" at his country's last major remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army, which has rear bases inside Venezuela.

Petro's Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said he would hold a virtual meeting on Friday with the US Department of Defense in order to have the country's main guerrilla groups declared "high-value common targets."

Speaking to Colombia's W radio, he said the declaration was a necessary step towards being able to "reduce these drug cartels to the bare minimum," with the help of US technology.

On Thursday, Trump told Fox News that Washington was "going to start now hitting land with regard to the cartels."

He did not say where but complained that cartels were "running Mexico."