Bogota claims that Argentine President Milei’s comments have betrayed Colombia’s confidence and disregarded President Petro, who was elected democratically.
Citing “denigrating” remarks made by Argentine President Javier Milei about Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s Foreign Ministry announced that the country has ordered the expulsion of Argentine diplomats from their mission in the Andean nation.
The ministry stated in a statement on Wednesday that “the Argentine president’s remarks have deteriorated the trust of our nation, in addition to offending the dignity of President [Gustavo] Petro, who was democratically elected.”
“In this context, the Government of Colombia orders the expulsion of diplomats from the Argentine embassy in Colombia,” said the statement.
“The scope of this decision will be communicated to the Argentine Embassy through diplomatic institutional channels.”
During a recent interview that hasn’t been fully aired, Milei referred to Petro as a “terrorist,” “murderer,” and “communist” on the news channel CNN.
Following similar remarks made by Milei, Colombia called back its ambassador to Argentina in January.
“Milei is mentioned more in insults than Petro.”
The Colombian Ambassador to Argentina, Camilo Romero, criticized Milei’s remarks prior to the ministry’s announcement, stating that it is evident that the Argentine president will always “respond with insults” when questioned about his Colombian counterpart.
“The president of Colombia has chosen to minimize these offenses on the prior two times. “Milei’s statements reveal more about him than about Petro,” he stated on X, a Twitter replacement.
The first Marxist president of Colombia, Petro, was formerly a part of the long-demobilized M-19 guerrilla group.
In other excerpts of the interview, Milei also made jabs at other regional leaders, such as Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
