The Colombian Government called its ambassador in Argentina, Camilo Romero, for consultations after the president of that country, Javier Milei, assured that the Colombian president “is a murderous communist who is sinking” the country.
The Foreign Ministry detailed in a statement that these statements, made in an interview with journalist Patricia Janiot, “ignore and violate the deep ties of friendship, understanding and cooperation that have historically united Colombia and Argentina” and that is why it “calls “immediate consultation with Ambassador Camilo Romero”.
When asked what he thinks of Petro, Milei said: “he is a murderous communist who is sinking Colombia.”
In that sense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that it presents “its most energetic protest against the disrespectful and irresponsible statements of the President of the Argentine Republic, Mr. Javier Milei, against President Gustavo Petro.”
“The Government of Colombia strongly rejects this declaration, which attacks the honor of the first president, who has been elected in a democratic and legitimate manner,” added the Foreign Ministry.
The relationship between Petro and Milei is not good and even since the second was a presidential candidate, the Colombian president attacked him for his derogatory comments about socialist people, and assured that that was what “Hitler said.”
“Hitler said the same thing,” Petro said in this regard, in a message referring to Milei’s victory in the primaries on August 13, long before he was elected president of Argentina.
Likewise, the Colombian president has compared Milei to the dictators Jorge Videla, of Argentina, and Augusto Pinochet, of Chile, something for which he was also criticized at the time.
Ambassador Romero, meanwhile, called Milei a “hypocrite” and said that this occurred while the Argentine government is asking the Colombian government for “approval for its new ambassador” in the country.
“We can think differently, but the region and the historical brotherhood of our peoples must be above the differences,” he added.
The Colombian president, who has not yet commented on what his Argentine counterpart said, has been supported by politicians from various political currents, even by opponents who consider Milei’s statements excessive.
“Just as I rejected Petro comparing Milei with Pinochet and Videla, I also condemn Milei referring to Petro as a ‘murderous communist’. Both must understand that they are no longer activists, but heads of state, and that diplomatic relations cannot be drive with the liver,” said Chamber representative Andrés Forero, of the opposition Democratic Center party, in X.
Meanwhile, former senator Gustavo Bolívar, a member of the ruling Historical Pact coalition, defended that “Petro has never been a communist nor has he murdered anyone.”
“The comment could be misleading, but Milei is not just any right-wing clown. He is a head of state, whose words have international reach,” he added in X.