Colombia's U.S.-backed President-Elect Abelardo De La Espriella announced yesterday (Sunday) that he will sever his country's diplomatic ties with communist Cuba and the government of Nicaragua immediately upon taking office.
اضافة اعلان
"There will be no relations with authoritarian regimes in my government," said the hard-right president, who will assume office on August 7.
He announced on social media the closure of 15 consulates and 14 embassies, clarifying that the severance of relations applies exclusively to two countries: Cuba and Nicaragua, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Abelardo De La Espriella narrowly won the recent presidential election and received the endorsement of U.S. President Donald Trump during his campaign.
Relations between Colombia and the United States, historical allies, have witnessed unprecedented diplomatic tensions since the start of Donald Trump's second term, marked by repeated clashes between him and outgoing leftist President Gustavo Petro.
According to Petro, Abelardo De La Espriella takes direct orders from the U.S. Department of State. Petro criticized what he described as Trump's "interference" in Colombian politics due to his explicit support for De La Espriella.
In Nicaragua, parliament and the electoral body are moving toward approving a reform that excludes the opposition from elections, adhering to the wishes of President Daniel Ortega, who has been in power since 2007. Washington strongly condemned the plan.
As for Cuba, its relations with the United States have deteriorated significantly in recent months, accompanied by Trump's repeated threats to take control of the island.
Furthermore, Abelardo De La Espriella intends to reopen a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem and suspend the establishment of a Colombian embassy in the Palestinian territories—an initiative originally launched by Gustavo Petro.
Bogotá plans to close its embassies in Algeria, Haiti, Barbados, Hungary, Senegal, Ethiopia, and South Africa, among other countries. In Italy and France, for instance, the embassies will be merged.
The president-elect justified these changes on budgetary grounds, expressing a desire to save money or reallocate funding toward security. — (Agencies)
