The confrontation between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei continues to generate reactions. Alberto Fernández, opponent of the libertarian president, rejected his words and showed solidarity with the leftist.
“I categorically regret and reject the statements of President Javier Milei, who has mistreated the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro. My solidarity with the president of the Colombian people,” said Fernández through a publication on his social networks.
The Argentine president described President Petro as a “terrorist murderer” in an interview with Andrés Oppenheimer on CNN. His words received a strong response from the Colombian Foreign Ministry, which ordered the expulsion of the diplomatic representatives in the country.
For Fernández, “the derogatory and disqualifying way in which the Argentine president expresses himself about presidents legitimately elected by their people and who are recognized leaders throughout Latin America is absolutely inadmissible,” he said.
His message was also addressed to the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whom Milei called “ignorant” during the interview on the same program, when asked about the comments they had made about both leaders.
“The derogatory words of the Argentine president towards the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, are unacceptable. My sincere friendship and solidarity with @lopezobrador_. “I categorically reject those expressions that once again reflect his arrogance, his isolation and his contempt for our Latin American brothers,” said Fernández.
President Petro was much closer to the former Argentine president, and even supported his candidate Sergio Massa during the election campaign. That support was one of the events that led him to unleash the confrontation with Milei, whom he on other occasions compared to the dictator Jorge Videla.
Given the situation unleashed by President Milei’s statements regarding Colombia, Argentine Government spokesman Manuel Adorni assured that these are ideological differences that he hopes will not affect the relations of both countries.
“President Milei’s position was always the same, he always referred to Petro’s past, he confirmed what he said several times about Petro,” Adorni told La FM. “We always appeal that the differences, of course, of an abysmal distance between the ideology of Petro and that of President Milei, do not affect the relationship between the peoples,” he added.
Despite the expulsion of the diplomats, various Colombian political sectors have highlighted the need to maintain relations with the southern country given the tradition between both nations. However, the Foreign Ministry has not made known the scope of the decision.
“The expressions of the Argentine president have deteriorated the confidence of our nation, in addition to offending the dignity of President Petro, who was democratically elected,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its statement.
The Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, demanded respect from President Petro and expressed his deference to the Argentines. “Mr. @JMilei, you were wrong on a serious matter and you owe an excuse to the Colombian people and an explanation to your people, Argentina is much more than your bravado,” he said.
Germán Gómez Polo, Colombian consul in Argentina, assured that they are working to maintain a good relationship between both nations, despite rejecting the insults that the president of that country uttered against Petro. He assured that there are more than 100,000 Colombians in that country.
“From the Consulate in Buenos Aires we are witnesses of the efforts and affection of Colombians towards the Argentine people. For this reason, we ask for respect for President @petrogustavo and we work for the good relationship of two nations with 200 years of joint history,” he stated. With Infobae