Colombia on Wednesday ordered the expulsion of
“diplomats from the Argentine embassy”
in Bogota after a series of insults from Argentine President Javier Milei who called his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro a
“murderer”
and a
“terrorist”
.
“In this context, the Colombian government has ordered the expulsion of diplomats from the Argentine Embassy in Colombia
,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, without specifying the function or the number of diplomats expelled.
The ministry condemned
“an interview given to CNN in which (Javier Milei) spoke in a denigrating manner towards Colombian President”
Gustavo Petro. American media had already published excerpts from the interview and cited some of President Milei's remarks against Gustavo Petro:
"We can't expect much from someone who was a terrorist assassin
," he said. declared the Argentine president, according to the CNN website.
Relations deteriorated since Milei came to power
For the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
“the expressions of the Argentine president have damaged the confidence of our nation, as well as the dignity of President Petro, who was democratically elected”
in the summer of 2022 as the first left-wing president of the history of Colombia.
Details of
the “expulsion will be communicated to the Argentine embassy through the
usual diplomatic channels,” Bogota added. The Argentine government has not commented on the matter.
“This is not the first time that Javier Milei has offended the Colombian president, affecting the historic relations of fraternity”
between the two countries, recalled the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Relations with Argentina are historically stable, but have deteriorated since the ultra-liberal Javier Milei came to power in Buenos Aires in December 2023. The Colombian ambassador to Argentina, Camilo Romero, is back in consultation in his country since the end of January. Javier Milei then called Gustavo Petro a
“murderous communist who is sinking Colombia”
.