Colombia’s best diplomat , Luis Gilberto Murillo told Reuters in remarks published on Monday that the communist government of President Gustavo Petro did “really demand” to Israel’s allies “in the world north” to quit supporting the country’s self- defense operations against the criminal organization Hamas.
The “global north”, Foreign Minister Murillo claimed, has” the opportunity right now to convince] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ] Netanyahu that it is important to attain a peace” with Hamas.
Murillo did not, according to reports, mention any particular members of the reported “global north” that Bogotá is attempting to pressure into adopting pro-Hamas positions, but he is planning to meet with American government representatives in the Chilean capital on Tuesday and Wednesday to talk apparently about “mutual interest” issues.
Before Petro, Colombia was once one of Israel’s most trustworthy supporters in Latin America, having traditionally had center-right or liberal institutions throughout its entire story. Under Petro, a former part of the Socialist M19 criminal rebel and a radical socialist, Bogotá has condemned Israel’s work against Hamas, accusing Netanyahu of “genocide” for procedures against Hamas in its enclave of Gaza. Petro announced in May that he would end diplomatic relations with Israel, and he has since stated that his government will change its Tel Aviv ambassador with a Ramallah, West Bank official, with the intention to bolster relations with the state of” Palestine” in the absence of a government.
Gustavo Petro is Colombia’s first leftist leader in its past.
Petro’s hostility toward Israel, which was frequently manifested through broad tweets on his individual Twitter account, grew significantly after Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, causing an estimated 1,200 civilian casualties to be killed and seducing about 250 people. Of those, an estimated 130 remain in Hamas prison, though it is vague at press moment how many are still intact.
On that day, Hamas terrorists invaded residential areas and slaughtered whole families, including children, in their homes. Victims tell, and videos taken by the terrorists themselves demonstrate, popular crimes against humanity including rape, group murder, and destruction of corpses.
Warning: Home where Hamas killed an Israeli family in Kibbutz Be’eri with graphic content
Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart News
Petro responded to those events by contrasting Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler and Israel with Nazi Germany.
Murillo, Petro’s foreign minister, has not taken as strident a stance against Israel, though he echoes the policy objectives of his socialist boss. Murillo, who spoke to Reuters, lamented that the UN had been unable to stop Israel from attacking Hamas terrorists and urged other nations to press the international body to take action. He emphasized the alleged influence that unspecified “global north” nations may have on the situation.
” We must really insist, not just to the government of Israel but to its most important allies, many in the global north”, Murillo told Reuters. They are the ones who have the best chance at the moment to persuade Netanyahu that a ceasefire is necessary, that it is essential to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza, and that it is crucial to sit down to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict.
According to Semana, the Colombian magazine, Murillo will meet with Richard Verma, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources of the United States, for a “high-level dialogue” intended to be on a range of topics. According to the publication, which cited the Colombian Foreign Ministry, the two will reportedly discuss “rural transformation, public diplomacy, the environment and climate change, energy, mining, and infrastructure, peace, democracy, and human rights”, and immigration, among other topics.  , Semana did not specifically mention Israel as a topic of discussion, but the situation in Gaza could fall into topics such as “peace” and “public diplomacy”.
Petro will likely encourage Murillo to assertively approach the subject, as Petro himself did on Monday, in an obscene rant on the social media platform Twitter, which purportedly criticizes the United States ‘ alliance with Israel and employs antisemitic tropes.
In response to Israel Defense Forces ( IDF) operations in Rafah, Petro wrote,” As many bankers and equity funds belong to the people who support the massacre, the powerful self- proclaimed democratic countries are not capable of opposing] Israel ]”.
Since October 7, Petro has repeatedly compared Israel to Nazi Germany, failing to comparably condemn Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, for its killing spree.
ISRAEL FIGHTS TERROR: Is Israel’s Response to Hamas Legal and Justified?
Joel Pollak
Petro wrote on October 8 that if I had lived in Germany in 1933, I would have fought on the side of the Jews, and if I had lived in Palestine in 1948, I would have fought on the Palestinian side. ” Now the neo- Nazis want the destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom and culture. The Israeli and Palestinian people’s demands are now the democrats and progressives.
In May, Petro called Netanyahu “genocidal” and declared, “you stand next to those who killed millions of Jews in Europe”.
” I am not a supporter of Hamas because I am a supporter of republican, plebeian, and secular democracy”, Petro caveated as an afterthought.
Petro also claimed in March that M19, the Marxist terrorist guerrilla he belonged to as a child, trained with Palestinian terrorists in Libya.
” Why does Petro defend the Palestinian people”? the president asked, referring to himself in the third person. ” Ah, because we have the same root”.
Petro’s Colombian government has actively opposed Israel’s self-defense. Washington under fellow leftist Joe Biden has been openly critical in some cases of Netanyahu’s self- defense operations, however, particularly complaining that Netanyahu seeks to eliminate Hamas’s presence in its last remaining Gaza stronghold, the southern city of Rafah. Biden’s top diplomat, Antony Blinken, has enthusiastically promoted the the creation of a Palestinian state during his post- October 7 tours of the Middle East, touting a key Hamas political goal.
On January 8, 2024, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken ( L ) and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ( R ) meet in Al-‘Ula, Saudi Arabia. ( Chuck Kennedy/Department of State Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images )
Petro, not waiting for the existence of a Palestinian state, is moving his diplomats to Ramallah.  , Margarita Manjarrez, Colombia’s current ambassador to Israel, confirmed on Tuesday that her embassy must be shut down by June 30 per Petro’s orders. The process to shut down the embassy, she explained to , Semana, will require the deregistering of official diplomatic vehicles, relinquishing official residences, and ensuring a legal end to any open contracts in Israel.
Follow Frances Martel on , Facebook , and , Twitter.
