On May 1, during a massive march in the capital, Bogota, on the occasion of Labor Day, Colombian President Gustavo Petro culminated his country’s series of solidarity measures with the Palestinian people by announcing the severing of relations with Israel.
During the march, Petro addressed the gathered crowds by saying, “Here before you, the government of change and the government of the President of the Republic announce that tomorrow we will sever diplomatic relations with the State of Israel… because it has a government and a president who are committing genocide.”
The Colombian president’s orientations contradict the history of Israel’s relations with his country, which was known for its strong ties with Tel Aviv, especially in the volume of military exchanges, to the point that journalists described it as “the Israel of Latin America.”
This prompts us to highlight the radical changes that have occurred in relations between Bogotá and Tel Aviv, since the arrival of Colombia’s first leftist president in 2022, which will change the course of the Colombian government’s dealings with the Palestinian issue.
An old ally
The talk about Israeli-Colombian relations begins with Partition Resolution No. 181 of 1947 issued by the United Nations. At that time, Colombia abstained from voting, and the Colombian representative in the international organization presented a different proposal for dividing Palestine, hinting that the decision lacked justice, and indicating that it would cause many problems.
As Felipe Medina, professor of political science at the Colombian University of Javieriana, says, the real relations between Israel and Colombia arose years after the partition decision, specifically in 1957, followed by Colombia’s diplomatic representation in Israel in 1963.
During the Cold War, although Colombia was an ally of the United States, it condemned the illegal practices of Israel, especially after its occupation of the remainder of the Palestinian territories in 1967.
In the 1980s, trade relations developed between the two sides, and Colombia began exporting coal from its territory to Israel in 1984, in addition to other trade exchanges in which the Colombian army had a share.
Medina describes this relationship by saying that it was sometimes contradictory to the general line of Colombian diplomacy. In 1997, former Colombian President Ernesto Samper visited the Gaza Strip, and Colombia condemned Israel’s violations of the Palestinians more than once.
Commercial and military cooperation
Israel’s cooperation with Colombia in many fields has become more intense and vibrant, and according to the Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, the volume of investment flows from Israel in Colombia during the period between 2002 and the first quarter of 2020 amounted to about 580 million dollars, mainly concentrated In the transportation, agriculture and trade sectors.
According to figures issued by the National Administrative Statistics Service, Colombia exported about US$375 million to Israel between January and August 2023, with energy mining products accounting for 93% of total exports, while the remaining 7% represented non-mining goods such as coffee. Flowers, candy, etc.
On the military level, Colombia was obtaining a wide range of military equipment from Israel, including firearms such as the Jericho semi-automatic pistol and the Even in the 1990s, Colombia increased its air fleet with 24 Kfir fighter aircraft.
According to El Espectador newspaper, citing the Colombian Center for Military Education and Military Industry (Indomil), this military cooperation includes defense purchases with a total value of about $325 million.
By 2010, nearly 50% of Colombia’s arms imports came from Israel. Relations between Israel and Colombia strengthened during the terms of former Colombian presidents Albaro Uribe (2002-2010) and Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018).
In 2017, Benjamin Netanyahu visited Colombia, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to visit a South American country.
Relations between Palestine and Colombia
On the other hand, official relations between Colombia and Palestine began in 1988, and one of the prominent events that strengthened the relationship between the two countries was the visit of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to the Colombian city of Cartagena in 1995, to attend the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
During that visit, the radio broadcast a phone call that took place between Arafat and the Colombian president at the time, Ernesto Samper, in which Arafat urged the “rebel groups” at the time to “think about Colombia first,” as Colombia suffered from a long conflict between 1964 and 2017. Between the government and rebel groups.
During his presence at the summit, Arafat also invited President Samper to visit the Palestinian territories, which the latter did in 1996, when he visited the Gaza Strip and met with Arafat, followed by sending a special mission from Palestine to Colombia.
In 2011, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Colombia to rally support for the request for recognition of the State of Palestine in the United Nations, followed in 2018 by the decision of former President Juan Manuel Santos and the Colombian government to “recognize Palestine, a free, independent and sovereign state.”
After the Al-Aqsa flood
The developments in Colombian relations with the two sides after October 7 went in two opposite directions. Although it condemned the Hamas attack, it at the same time condemned the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. The Colombian president stressed that Israel is committing genocide, calling on the countries of the world to put an end to the violations of the Israeli Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu, according to his words.
In mid-October, Colombia expelled the Israeli ambassador in Bogota from the country because of the war on Gaza. Petro also met with representatives of the Palestinian community, and during the meeting he affirmed his support for Palestinian rights, adherence to international resolutions, and his rejection of what is happening in Gaza.
At the end of last February, Petro announced the suspension of arms purchase deals from Israel, following the flour massacre in Gaza, when 118 Palestinians were martyred while waiting for an aid convoy near the Nabulsi roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Colombian president also requested to join South Africa’s lawsuit before the International Court of Justice, in which Israel is accused of committing genocide.
Ali Nofal, a member of the Palestinian community in Colombia, believes that Petro’s position is not surprising, as it “stems from his historical positions (…) being the first leftist president of the country,” but he continued that the position of the Colombian people is still divided towards Israel.
He pointed to the influence of the right, the extreme right, and some evangelical Christian Zionist sects that consider “Israel the Promised Land,” believe in the so-called “God’s chosen people,” and urge their followers to support Israel.
The future of relationships
The Colombian researcher and academic specializing in Middle East affairs, Victor de Correa Lugo, believes that Petro’s position shows “the change that occurred in Colombian foreign policy with the arrival of a leftist government for the first time in our history,” pointing to manifestations that reflect popular solidarity with Palestine, “due to the continued The campaign of genocide in Gaza.
Regarding President Petro’s position, Correa says that it is consistent with his previous roles in “promoting negotiated solutions to armed conflicts. He was elected mainly because he is one of the advocates of peace in his country. Recently, he suspended the purchase of weapons from Israel, and this reflects the change in Colombian foreign policy.”
Despite this change, the far right and other forces opposed to President Petro criticized the decision to sever relations and organized marches in which they carried Israeli flags.
According to De Correa, his opponents used the media to accuse Petro of anti-Semitism, in addition to the role of local evangelical churches that support Zionism.
It is likely that the stability of Colombia’s current position, in support of Palestine, will remain dependent on the elected president, and will represent a major challenge to the current president who rules a country in which the United States had great influence.
He continued that if the extreme right returned to ruling Colombia, it would return “to be the Israel of Latin America,” stressing that cooperation between Colombia and Israel went beyond commercial and diplomatic relations to “the presence of Israeli intelligence services offices in the country, and media outlets fully funded by Zionists.”