BOGOTA.- The foreign ministries of Colombia and Argentina announced that the Colombian ambassador, Camilo Romero, will return to his mission in Buenos Aires, after a diplomatic setback between both countries following insults by the Argentine president, Javier Milei, against his Colombian counterpart.
“The Colombian Government has given instructions for Ambassador Camilo Romero to return to Buenos Aires,” the foreign ministries say in a joint statement.
The countries spoke out after Colombian President Gustavo Petro decided to expel several diplomats from the Argentine embassy in Bogotá, after Milei called him a “terrorist” and “murderer” in an interview.
Both governments, the text continues, showed interest in adopting “concrete steps to overcome any differences and strengthen this relationship.”
Likewise, the statement ensures that the Colombian government approved the new Argentine ambassador in Colombia proposed by the Milei government, whose name has not yet been made public.
It was also announced that the Argentine Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino, will travel to Colombia on an official visit as yet undated.
In this way, both governments “ratify the importance of maintaining good relations and maintain their willingness to strengthen bilateral ties,” the statement said.
In an interview broadcast on Wednesday by the American network CNN, the Argentine president stated in reference to Petro: “You cannot expect much from someone who was a terrorist murderer.”
The phrase caused discomfort in the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which considered that same day that “the expressions of the Argentine president have deteriorated the confidence of our nation, in addition to offending the dignity of President Petro.”
Immediately afterwards, the president ordered the expulsion of diplomats from the Argentine embassy in Bogotá.
Petro served for 12 years in the M-19, a nationalist guerrilla of urban origin, before signing peace in 1990 and jumping into politics. In August 2022, he came to power as Colombia’s first leftist president.
Relations with Argentina have been historically stable, but have deteriorated since the ultraliberal Milei came to power in December 2023.
Ambassador Romero has been in consultations since the end of January, when Petro reacted to another interview in which his Argentine counterpart called him a “murderous communist who is sinking Colombia.”
Source: AFP
