Colombia to Restore Embassy in Jerusalem, Sever Ties with Cuba and Nicaragua
Istanbul (ANTARA) - Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, on Monday announced a sweeping reorganisation of the country’s diplomatic corps, prioritising a strategic reset with Israel whilst severing ties with several governments.
“I will reopen the Colombian embassy in Jerusalem,” de la Espriella said in a video announcement, fulfilling one of his main campaign promises.
The pro-Israel leader, who received strong backing from US President Donald Trump during the campaign, also ordered the suspension of plans to build an embassy in Palestine, asserting that the office had in fact never been operational.
Colombia’s outgoing President Gustavo Petro announced in October 2023 that his country would open an embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestine.
The president-elect revealed plans to close 14 embassies and around 15 consulates to reduce bureaucratic spending.
“In the first stage, I will close the embassies in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Hungary, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Romania, Senegal (and) South Africa,” he said.
Although de la Espriella noted that most of the closures did not amount to a total severing of relations, he made a definitive exception for Cuba and Nicaragua.
“Under my government, there will be no relations whatsoever with tyrannical regimes,” he said.
Diplomatic efficiency
To streamline operations, Colombia will shift to a “shared representation” model, in which existing regional embassies handle affairs for several countries.
De la Espriella also described maintaining separate missions to international bodies such as UNESCO in Paris and the FAO in Rome as “absurd”, and pledged to consolidate them under a single ambassador.
In addition, the incoming government plans to open a new embassy in Nigeria to coordinate diplomacy more efficiently across Africa, de la Espriella said.
Petro rebukes new Israeli envoy, calls Colombian president-elect a ‘henchman’
Meanwhile, Petro issued a stern rebuke to Israel’s newly approved ambassador to Colombia, Vivian Aisen, accusing his successor of complicity in genocide.
Responding to Aisen’s statement expressing gratitude for her appointment, Petro questioned her record on women’s empowerment.
“A mother who fights for women’s equality would never allow tens of thousands of Palestinian women and their children … to be killed by missiles,” Petro wrote on the social media platform X.
The outgoing Colombian president further said that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu had committed “crimes against humanity”.
He accused de la Espriella of being a “henchman of genocide”, asserting that his victory was achieved through manipulation of private software.
Petro claimed that certain algorithms had been modified in Los Angeles to replace “the will of the people”.