President
Javier Milei
came out to redouble the bet against the president of Colombia,
Gustavo Petro
, and that of Mexico,
Manuel López Obrador
, in the midst of a diplomatic crisis that has already caused the expulsion of the Argentine ambassador in Bogotá announced by the Colombian government. Appealing to a formula already tested in his fight with the singer Lali Esposito, when he said “she started it,” the President assured that his was just a response to the criticism that both leaders have been leveling against him in recent months.
But
who started it?
A quick scan through the archive yields a first result: the
first meeting
between the two presidents occurred on August 29, when Milei, in his role as presidential candidate, gave his first interview to a Colombian media after failing in the primary elections. .
“Argentina's decline begins with embracing socialist ideas, that is, the true Argentine disease is called socialism,” Milei told RCN Radio in Colombia. And she immediately launched a phrase that triggered Petro's anger. "What is a socialist deep down?
He is trash, he is human excrement
, who basically, by not wanting to endure the brilliance of another human being, is willing for everyone to be in misery," she noted.
"Being a socialist, deep down, is a disease of the spirit, a disease of the soul. They are bad people, that is the reality," said the libertarian, in a message that in that country was interpreted as
a strong questioning of President Petro
.
That same August 29, just hours apart, the Colombian president's response came in the form of a tweet. Petro replied to the interview with Milei in X and added a lapidary comment.
“This is what Hitler said
,” he wrote, comparing the now Argentine president with the highest Nazi leader.
This is what Hitler said. https://t.co/AOvXQQvHTr
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) August 29, 2023
Days before the second presidential round,
Petro added more criticism against Milei
and called on Sergio Massa, the Minister of Economy who lost in the runoff against the La Libertad Avanza candidate, to vote. “In Argentina, not only the future of its people is decided, but also the hope of America. Hope or barbarism decide the Argentines.
A Milei that returns us to Pinochet and Videla
. Or a Massa who can open paths of hope,” the Colombian harangued.
“Have no doubts.
"You should never vote for barbarism
and you should always vote for hope," he said and received a very harsh response from Milei's followers on social media, many of whom have now become Casa Rosada officials in areas such as digital communication, who called this call to vote for Massa as the “lead lifeguard” that Kirchnerism needed to finish sinking before the elections.
This is what Hitler said. https://t.co/AOvXQQvHTr
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) August 29, 2023
Milei's victory did not silence the criticism of the Colombian president, who continued to voice his questions with Milei elected.
“The extreme right has won in Argentina; It is the decision of your society.
Sad for Latin America
and we'll see... neoliberalism no longer has a proposal for society, it cannot respond to humanity's current problems,” he expressed, adding a new chapter to the fight.
The extreme right has won in Argentina; It is the decision of your society. Sad for Latin America and we'll see... neoliberalism no longer has a proposal for society, it cannot respond to humanity's current problems. https://t.co/TCqBPLSkkO
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 19, 2023
Petro, for obvious reasons, was one of the
big absentees
at Milei's inauguration on December 10, 2023. There were plenty of reasons.
But the public war between the two did not end with the arrival of the libertarian to Casa Rosada, already as the Colombian's presidential peer.
Quite the opposite
.
On January 26, there was a
point of no return
in the diplomatic relationship between both countries, a kind of spoiler for what is happening at this time. That day, from her presidential office, Milei gave an interview to renowned journalist Patricia Janiot, from CNN en Español, and there, in the middle of a ping-pong of questions, she ended up calling Gustavo Petro a “
murderer.”
.
-Donald Trump?
-One of the leaders of freedom against global socialism.
-Gustavo Petro?
-
A murderous communist who is sinking Colombia.
Video
In an interview, the President gave his opinion on Alberto Fernández, Mauricio Macri, Cristina and Néstor Kirchner, Fernando De la Rúa, Donald Trump, Gustavo Petro, Gabriel Boric and Nayib Bukele.
That explosive statement by the Argentine president caused Colombia
to call its ambassador in Buenos Aires for consultations
. Then the Foreign Ministry issued a categorical statement: “The government of Colombia
strongly rejects
this statement, which threatens the honor of the president (...). President Milei's words ignore and violate the deep ties of friendship, understanding and cooperation," stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
And Petro also crossed it, but without naming it. “Those who attack us do not know what communism is and what socialism is,” he argued.
"It is not about - because they attack us as communists, as socialists - that the State is the owner of the means of production. Of course, those who attack us
have no idea what communism is and what socialism is
," said the president. of Colombia. "Socialism is the way of producing through which the State is the owner of the means of production," he clarified.
On February 24, a
new chapter
of the Milei-Petro verbal pyrotechnics arrived. It was after the libertarian economist hugged
Donald Trump
at a conservative event where the Argentine was one of the stars.
Milei and Trump in Washington during a conservative conference. AFP photo.
A Colombian journalist from the NTN24 signal approached him in a hallway and asked him about Petro's statement about his ignorance of communism. What did she answer? “He is sinking Colombians, he is
a lethal plague
for Colombians themselves,” she said.
"Petro is sinking the Colombians": Javier Milei pic.twitter.com/mxKTVZx3JT
— La FM (@lafm) February 24, 2024
And so, more than six months after that first sentence from Milei, yesterday perhaps came the one that finally broke the camel's back in the fight between the two. It was the one that was broadcast yesterday, again before the microphones of CNN en Español, against Petro himself, in a preview of the interview with Andrés Oppenheimer that will be broadcast on Sunday. “You can't expect much from someone who was
a terrorist murderer
.”
Colombia's response was blunt and ordered
the expulsion of the Argentine ambassador and other diplomats from the country
. Through a statement, the Foreign Ministry of that country repudiated the "statements made by Mr. Javier Milei, President of Argentina, in an interview with the CNN channel in which he expressed himself in a denigrating manner against the first President of the Colombians, the respected Mr. Gustavo Petro".
In this context, the Government of Colombia orders the expulsion of diplomats from the Argentine embassy in Colombia.
The scope of this decision will be communicated to the Argentine Embassy through diplomatic institutional channels. https://t.co/I5E5T1WoBA
— Colombian Foreign Ministry (@CancilleriaCol) March 28, 2024
The text indicated along the same lines that "this is not the first time that Mr. Milei offends the Colombian President, affecting the historical relations of brotherhood between Colombia and Argentina." And he also considered that "the expressions of the Argentine president have
deteriorated the confidence of our nation
, in addition to offending the dignity of President Petro, who was democratically elected."
"In this context, the Government of Colombia orders the expulsion of diplomats from the Argentine embassy in Colombia. The scope of this decision will be communicated to the Argentine Embassy through diplomatic institutional channels," the Colombian government announced.
The situation promises to become even more tense, but the Milei factor is already causing talk not only among Colombian political leaders, but also in the streets. In a recent mobilization against the Petro government, which took place on March 6,
posters in defense of the Argentine president
could be seen at the march in Cali .
"Long live freedom, damn it," was the motto of the banner held by two people with Colombian flags on their shoulders. There the libertarian president could be seen standing leading a pride of lions that had the faces of Donald Trump, the president of El Salvado Nayib Bukele, and that of the opposition Colombian congresswoman María Fernanda Cabal.
Pro Milei posters at a march in Cali, Colombia. EFE/ Ernesto Guzmán