Colombia expels diplomats from Argentine embassy after President Javier Milei called his Colombian counterpart an “assassin” and a “terrorist”

Colombia on Wednesday ordered the expulsion of “diplomats from the Argentine embassy” in Bogota after a series of insults from the Argentine president, Javier Mile, who called his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, an “assassin” and a “terrorist”, notes AFP, quoted by Agerpres.

“In this context, the Colombian government has ordered the expulsion of some diplomats from the Argentine embassy in Colombia,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated in a statement, without specifying the function or the number of diplomats expelled.

The Ministry condemned “an interview given to the CNN channel in which (Javier Milei) expressed himself in a derogatory manner towards the Colombian president”, Gustavo Petro.

American media published excerpts from the interview and quoted some of President Mila’s remarks about Petro: “We can’t expect much from someone who was a terrorist assassin,” the Argentine president said, according to the CNN website.

For the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “the expressions of the Argentine president have damaged the trust 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 in the history of Colombia.

Details of the “expulsion will be communicated to the Argentine embassy through normal diplomatic channels,” Bogota added. The Argentine government has not commented on the issue.

“It is not the first time that Milei offends the Colombian president, affecting the historical relations of brotherhood” between the two countries, reminded the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Relations with Argentina are historically stable, but have deteriorated since ultraliberal Javier Milei came to power in Buenos Aires in December 2023. Colombia’s ambassador to Argentina, Camilo Romero, returned for consultations in his country at the end of of January. Milei then called Petro a “criminal communist out to sink Colombia.”