Colombia and its delegation of Vice President Francia Marquez and acting Foreign Affairs Minister Yolanda Villavicencio Mapy stormed out in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City, earlier this morning.
Netanyahu was scheduled to speak before the assembly at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, the 26th of September.
Shortly after Israel’s prime minister was escorted to the podium, a handful of international delegations representing nations in attendance began to make their exodus. Colombia was included.
The act was in protest of Israel’s continued occupation and heavy bombardment of Gaza, where the death toll has been rising since Israel’s invasion following the attacks on the 7th of October in 2023.
The government of President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has been a vocal critic of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. In his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Petro called on the international body to “stop the genocide”, even recommending that the organization establish an international army to intervene in the war in Gaza.
Petro called on his international partners, “We must liberate Palestine”, adding, “I invite the armies of Asia, the great Slavic people who defeated Hitler with great heroism, and the Latin American armies of Bolívar… We’ve had enough words; it’s time for Bolívar’s sword of liberty or death.”
The gesture by the Colombian delegation earlier today came amid recent announcements from a slew of nations, including Britain, Australia, Canada, and Portugal, officially recognizing a Palestinian state last Sunday.
Equally notable, President Emmanuel Macron of France, including Belgium, then followed suit shortly after, announcing their own formal recognition of a legitimate state of Palestine.
In defense of the actions of the Colombian delegation, Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Villavicencio of Colombia issued a statement asserting, “We cannot legitimize with our presence a speech that justifies war and occupation”. The minister continued, “This is an act of dignity in the face of the systematic violations of international law and the human rights of the Palestinian people. Colombia will not be complicit in the silence. We stand on the side of Peace, of the self-determination of peoples, and of global justice”.
The Petro administration in Bogotá faces a combination of challenges back home, including fiscal constraints, internal security concerns with violent rebel groups, and a concerning rise in political violence throughout the country.
Opposition members in Colombia claim that the president’s very public stance on foreign issues like Palestine and the expression of his strong critiques of the U.S. Trump administration are used to distract the citizens from his domestic failures.
Petro campaigned on a promise to usher in sweeping legislative reforms to advance an ambitious social program and to foster unity among the nation’s political parties.
However, most of Petro’s proposals have been stymied by the president’s opposition in Congress, and political divisions between Colombia’s liberals and conservatives have been widening.
President Petro’s term expires in six months, with upcoming elections set for March 2026. Petro is not eligible for re-election.
