US and Colombia recall envoys as diplomatic rift deepens

Prosecutors successful Colombia unfastened a probe into an alleged crippled to overthrow President Petro arsenic ties sharply deteriorate.

The United States and Colombia person called location their respective apical diplomats successful an acceleration of worsening ties, against the backdrop of an alleged crippled against Colombia’s left-wing leader.

Washington, DC went first, recalling its complaint d’affaires John McNamara connected Thursday, “following baseless and reprehensible statements from the highest levels of the authorities of Colombia,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, without giving specifics.

In summation to McNamara’s recall, Bruce said the United States “is pursuing different measures to marque wide our heavy interest implicit the existent authorities of our bilateral relationship”, without further details.

Within hours, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro announced helium was calling location his apical diplomat successful Washington, DC, successful response.

Ambassador Daniel Garcia-Pena “must travel to pass america of the improvement of the bilateral agenda,” Petro wrote connected X, specified arsenic tapping South America’s “great imaginable for cleanable energy” and the combat against “drug lords and their planetary finances”.

The diplomatic enactment came connected the heels of the resignation of Colombia’s overseas curate earlier connected Thursday – the latest top-ranking authoritative to exit Petro’s government.

“In caller days, decisions person been made that I bash not hold with and that, retired of idiosyncratic integrity and organization respect, I cannot support,” Laura Sarabia, who was besides Petro’s erstwhile main of staff, wrote connected X.

Deterioration of ties

Colombia was until precocious 1 of the US’s closest partners successful Latin America, with decades of right-wing rule, earlier bilateral relations sharply deteriorated.

Prosecutors successful the South American federation opened an probe this week into an alleged crippled to overthrow Petro with the assistance of Colombian and American politicians, pursuing the work by the Spanish regular El Pais of recordings implicating erstwhile Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva.

“This is thing much than a conspiracy with cause traffickers and apparently, the Colombian and American utmost right,” Petro said connected Monday.

During a code successful Bogota connected Thursday, Petro said helium did not deliberation US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom helium had antecedently linked to the alleged overthrow attempt, was “in the midst of a coup d’etat” against his government.

“I don’t judge that a authorities that has Iran arsenic its force and atomic weapons pointed astatine it … is going to commencement fooling astir with a coup d’etat” successful Colombia, helium said.

In precocious January, the US concisely suspended consular services to retaliate for Petro’s refusal to let US subject planes to instrumentality Colombian refugees and migrants to their homeland.

Petro accused the US of treating them similar criminals, placing them successful shackles and handcuffs.

The 2 countries issued threats and counter-threats of crippling commercialized tariffs of up to 50 percent.

A backroom diplomatic woody involving the deployment of Colombian aerial unit planes to cod the refugees and migrants averted a looming commercialized warfare astatine the eleventh hour.

Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota, said the archetypal situation betwixt the 2 countries implicit the deportation of migrants was resolved rapidly successful January.

“The existent concern is evidently precise worrisome arsenic it is unclear what volition hap successful this case,” helium said.

“But it shows that ties that were taken for granted mightiness present beryllium unravelling,” Rampietti added.

Colombia’s left-wing authorities besides precocious refused a US petition to extradite 2 salient rebel leaders wanted by Washington, DC, for alleged cause trafficking.

Last month, Colombia was rattled by bombing attacks successful Cali successful the southwest of the state that killed 7 people, and the attempted assassination of a blimpish absorption legislator and statesmanlike hopeful, Miguel Uribe Turbay, astatine a run rally successful Bogota. The eruption of unit raised fears of a instrumentality to the darker days of erstwhile decades, of assassinations and bombings.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies