Controversy continues to rage between Argentina and Colombia following Argentine President Javier Miley’s comments about the past ” guerillas » of his Colombian colleague Gustavo Petr and the latter’s decision to expel members of the Argentine embassy in Bogotá.
A serious diplomatic crisis between the two countries erupted on Wednesday after the American channel CNN published fragments of an interview with Milei in which he confirmed that “we I can’t expect much from someone who was a murderous terrorist », in connection with Gustav Petra.
During his youth, Petro belonged to the leftist guerrilla group M19, which grew into a political party before disappearing in the 2000s. He has admitted in the past that he was part of a group of four M19 leaders who “ had a right of life or death over many Colombians “.
The Colombian government’s reaction to Miley’s accusations was immediate.
Petro announced the recall of his ambassador in Buenos Aires and the expulsion of the Argentine ambassador in Bogotá.
A few hours later, the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a press release the expulsion of “ diplomats from the Argentine Embassy in Colombia », without specifying whether it is the ambassador or the number of people who will have to leave the country.
Read also: Argentina: President Milei calls on the political class to sign a “new founding pact” to save the country
In Bogotá, the diplomatic crisis with Argentina caused a lot of noise in the local press. Major newspapers headlined the expulsion of Argentine diplomats accredited to Colombia and recalled that “ this is not the first time that President Milei has used insulting remarks against President Petar, which has affected the historical relations of brotherhood between the two countries “.
Colombian Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco said Colombia expects ” apologies » from Miley for the “terrorist killer” qualifications he reserved for his Colombian counterpart.
” Mr. Javier Milei, you made a mistake in a serious matter and you owe the Colombian people an apology and an explanation for your people », the Colombian minister wrote on his X account.
” The problem is not in Argentina, the problem is in the shameful act of its president that offended Colombia and that requires an explanation Velasco later told a local radio station.
It seems that on Thursday morning, Milei did not return and tried to justify his comments about Peter by posting on his X account a newspaper article in which his Colombian colleague compared him to Adolf Hitler.
” I share with you some things that Petro said about me“, wrote Milei, following this laconic sentence with an article from last September in which the Colombian president compared Milei to Hitler, in the middle of the presidential election campaign in Argentina.
Even then, Javier Milei, still a presidential candidate, replied that Petro ” the murderous communist who is sinking Colombia “.
These strong tensions with Colombia risk spilling over into Argentina’s relationship with Mexico, whose president Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador described Miley in the same interview as “ ignorant “.
” It’s a compliment that an ignorant person like Lopez Obrador is talking bad about me, it excites meMilei told a CNN reporter who asked him about his Mexican counterpart’s criticism of him.
With MAP
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