BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombia recalled its ambassador to Argentina for consultations yesterday, after Argentine President Javier Milei called his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro a “communist murderer.”
In an interview with journalist Patricia Janiot, Milei called Petro “a communist murderer who is ruining Colombia.” Janiot shared the interview with Milei on her YouTube account.
Colombia’s foreign ministry in a statement called Milei’s comments “disrespectful and irresponsible” and said they “violate the deep ties of friendship, understanding and cooperation that have historically united Colombia and Argentina.”
Colombia and Argentina have historically maintained good relations.
However, following the election of libertarian Milei, relations between Argentina’s new president and Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, have deteriorated.
“They attack us as communists, as socialists, that the state wants to control the means of production, of course those who attack us have no idea what communism is, what socialism is,” Petro said at a government event, referring to Milei’s comments.
Colombia’s government wants the people to control the means of production, not the state, he added.
