US, Colombia withdraw ambassadors amid accusations of coup plotting

MEDELLÍN, Colombia — The United States and Colombia have recalled their respective ambassadors amid tensions surrounding an alleged plot to oust President Gustavo Petro in which two Florida congressmen were implicated.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he ordered the recall of John T. McNamara, the acting ambassador in Bogotá, on Thursday “following baseless and reprehensible statements from senior Colombian government officials.” The State Department also called Colombia an “essential strategic partner” but said it would pursue “other measures to make clear our deep concern over the current state of our bilateral relationship.”

In response, Petro said he would call back Ambassador Daniel García-Peña from Washington in order to “brief us on the progress of the bilateral agenda to which I committed myself from the beginning of my government.”

Although Rubio did not elaborate on the alleged “reprehensible” statements, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo on Thursday published a letter allegedly sent to the U.S. House Committee on Ethics calling for an investigation into House Republicans, including Florida lawmakers Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, Rep. María Elvira Salazar, and Rep. Carlos Antonio Gimenez. The letter was signed by 30 Colombian representatives.

In it, the congressmen expressed “deep concern” about the lawmakers’ conduct and said that “any unjustified interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country undermines” the principles of mutual respect between nations.

Representatives Díaz-Balart and Gimenez were mentioned alongside Trump advisors including Rubio in recordings leaked to the Spanish newspaper El País that purport to show Petro’s former Foreign Minister, Álvaro Leyva, seeking U.S. pressure to oust his old boss.

“I was in the United States with a top-tier figure: Mario Díaz-Balart. The Díaz-Balarts are the ones behind the Secretary of State,” Leyva allegedly told an unknown person in the recording. (Rep. Salazar was not mentioned in the recording but Colombian lawmakers accused her of making public comments aimed at delegitimizing Petro).

According to El País, the White House never considered Leyva’s proposal, and Díaz-Balart dismissed the claims, saying he meets with all kinds of groups including officials in Colombia’s current government. “I laugh at so many fabrications, nonsense, and hypocrisy. It reminds me of the saying ‘every fool with his own agenda’”, he said.

Gimenez sloughed off the accusations as a “media circus by Gustavo Petro and his henchmen” and said they shouldn’t complain if the U.S. denies later denies them visas.

Concrete evidence of an actual coup plot remains elusive and analysts see the rhetoric from Colombia’s government as problematic.

“The only proof that we have [of a coup plot] are Leyva’s recordings… We do not even have real evidence of this happening from Leyva associates, which is problematic because it is not clear if these individuals were actively conspiring, especially as many of them have strongly denied these allegations,” said Sergio Guzmán, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a consultancy.

“The U.S. Congress doesn’t want to remain silent nor let this slide,” he added.

The recall of ambassadors is the most severe escalation yet in the tense relationship between Trump and Petro that has been brewing for months. Guzmán points to a number of factors deteriorating the relationship including Petro’s treatment of the opposition; lack of political protection for presidential candidates; Colombia joining the BRICS development bank, and rising coca cultivation which could lead to U.S. aid cuts to combat drug trafficking.

The analyst said that Petro’s impulsive foreign policy has made “Colombia increasingly isolated and less credible” with its ally the United States. His current Foreign Minister, Laura Sarabia, also announced her resignation on Thursday.

Senator Paola Holguín from the opposition Democratic Center party told the Miami Herald that Petro’s “repeated disrespectful statements, lack of commitment to fighting drug dealing and terrorism, and the alignment of our country with anti-democratic regimes and U.S. rivals are creating growing hardships” between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Petro’s supporters demand U.S. politicians respect Colombia’s sovereignty and its democratically elected president. “Calling him a narco-terrorist and drug addict is more than an insult; it’s also an unacceptable fallacy; it’s an affront to our nation and its sovereignty,” wrote Senator María José Pizarro Rodríguez of Petro’s Historic Pact for Colombia political party on X.

Colombia and the U.S. have built strong bonds over two centuries but the relationship has been strained in the past — namely over Cold War politics and the war on drugs. This latest diplomatic row, however, is disconcerting for those who study the relationship.

“We are very worried over the current state of the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Colombia,” said Holguín. “The U.S. has been our main commercial partner, a great ally in our fight against narcotrafficking and terrorism, and an important humanitarian supporter.”

Benjamin Gedan, Director of the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, echoed the concerns, stating, “For decades, Colombia has been the most strategic U.S. partner in the region, so it is troubling to see yet another diplomatic crisis.”