Colombia’s Incoming President Cuts Ties With Cuba & Nicaragua, Détente With Israel

Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, used a Sunday night social media address to lay out the most sweeping reversal of the country’s foreign policy in years, announcing that his government will break diplomatic relations with both Cuba and Nicaragua, reopen Colombia’s diplomatic presence in Jerusalem, and close more than two dozen embassies and consulates abroad, before taking office next month.

Breaking With Havana & Managua

De la Espriella said that once he takes office on August 7, Colombia will sever diplomatic relations with Cuba and Nicaragua specifically. “In my government there will be no ties whatsoever with tyrannies,” he said, referring to the two governments. De la Espriella was careful to distinguish this decision from the broader embassy closures announced in the same address, stating explicitly that those other closures do not represent a rupture of diplomatic relations with the countries involved — only the Cuba and Nicaragua decision does.

The timing lands notably close to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s own recent declaration that Nicaragua will never hold elections again, a move widely condemned internationally as foreclosing any legal path back to power for the country’s opposition.

De la Espriella did not directly reference that announcement in his remarks, but his characterization of Managua as a “tyranny” will certainly be praised by the more vocal proponents of Latin America’s democratic institutions after Ortega swore during a speech in the Central American capital on July 19 that “There won’t be any more elections here for them [Yanquis] to try to seize the government and seize power.”

A Broader Embassy Consolidation

Beyond the Cuba and Nicaragua rupture, de la Espriella announced the closure of 14 embassies and 15 consulates across a wide geographic spread, including Algeria, Czechia, Ghana, Hungary, Senegal, South Africa, Haiti, Barbados, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Malaysia, and Romania. He said a single ambassador will now cover multiple countries in regions where Colombia is consolidating its presence, and framed the changes as a cost-saving measure, arguing Colombia “cannot maintain such an expensive structure” and that the savings would be redirected toward security spending.

He also announced plans to unify Colombia’s diplomatic offices in France and Italy, which additionally host Colombia’s missions to multilateral bodies including UNESCO and the FAO.

Reversing Course on Israel & Palestine

Among the most consequential shifts is de la Espriella’s plan to reopen Colombia’s legation in Jerusalem and suspend the installation of an embassy in Palestine — a project initiated under outgoing President Gustavo Petro.

Petro broke diplomatic relations with Israel in 2024 in protest of its military offensive in Gaza, ending a historically close security partnership between the two countries. De la Espriella’s decision to reopen the Jerusalem presence signals an explicit return toward that earlier alignment, though he did not elaborate in Sunday’s address on the full scope or timeline of restoring relations with Israel. He separately announced plans to open a new embassy in Nigeria, which he said would help reorganize and improve the efficiency of Colombia’s diplomatic presence across the African continent.

Other Changes Announced

De la Espriella’s address also touched on matters unrelated to foreign policy. He said the permanent seat of Colombia’s presidency would move to Barranquilla, and that the Casa de Nariño — the current presidential palace in Bogotá — would be converted into a museum. He also announced that his own inauguration ceremony, originally planned for Popayán, would instead be held in Cali due to weather conditions.

Part of a Broader Realignment

Taken together, these announcements extend a pattern that has defined de la Espriella’s transition well before his formal inauguration. His incoming government has already agreed to “Plan Patriota 2.0,” a renewed security cooperation framework with the Pentagon revived from the name of the 2004 Uribe-era counter-guerrilla offensive, folding Colombia into the broader U.S.-led “Shield of the Americas” coalition.

The Cuba and Nicaragua rupture, alongside the pivot back toward Israel, extends that same realignment into the diplomatic sphere, positioning Colombia’s incoming administration as a sharp and rapid departure from nearly every major foreign policy position established under Petro — on security cooperation with Washington, on Israel and Palestine, and now on relations with Latin America’s remaining left-wing governments.

What Comes Next

De la Espriella’s government will need to formally execute these changes once he takes office, including the diplomatic and administrative procedures required to close embassies, consolidate consular services, and unwind or restore relations with the countries involved.

Neither Cuba nor Nicaragua had issued a public response to the announcement as of this writing. With his inauguration now just days away, de la Espriella’s early moves suggest a government intent on moving quickly and visibly to distinguish itself from its predecessor across nearly every front of Colombian foreign policy at once.

Sociedad Media is a Miami-based digital news publication covering the top stories on the diplomatic front across Latin America.

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