Colombia’s Marxist President Cuts Ties with Israel on May Day

Colombian far-left President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday that he would cut diplomatic relations with Israel on Thursday over its “genocide” in Gaza.

The Colombian president made the announcement during a speech given as part of an official government event commemorating “International Workers’ Day” or “May Day,” a holiday celebrating the murderous ideology of communism.

Petro – who has nearly single-handedly eroded decades of goodwill between Colombia and Israel in the months following the October 7 Hamas atrocities – previously theatened to cut ties with Israel repeatedly, condemning Israel for executing self-defense actions against the jihadist terrorist group Hamas. Petro has referred to military operations against Hamas terrorists as a “genocide.”

“Here in front of you, the government of change, the President of the Republic, informs that tomorrow diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be broken for having a government, for having a president, a genocidal one!” Petro said.

He did not clarify if his “genocidal” accusation was directed towards Israeli President Isaac Herzog or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Israel, the prime minister holds more power than the largely ceremonial president.

“I believe that today humanity, all in the streets, by the millions, agrees with us and we with it,” Petro continued.

Hamas reportedly celebrated Petro’s decision in a statement issued on Wednesday, hailing it as a “victory” while calling for other Latin American countries to follow suit.

“We greatly appreciate the position of Colombian President Gustavo Petro which we consider a victory for the sacrifices of our people and their just cause,” Hamas said in a statement.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to Petro’s announcement in a statement issued in both Spanish and Hebrew, asserting that Petro “kept his promise” of rewarding Hamas.

“History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians,” Katz’s message read.

“Relations between Israel and Colombia have always been warm – and no hate-filled, antisemitic president will be able to change that,” he continued. “The State of Israel will continue to protect its citizens without fear and without trepidation.”

Shortly after Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which left more than 1,200 citizens deads and hundreds taken hostage, Petro, a former member of the Marxist M19 guerrilla, not only failed to condemn Hamas, but began a fierce condemnation campaign against Israel. His insults against Jerusalem severely deteriorated the historically friendly relations between Colombia and Israel, first established in 1957.

Petro, in a series of posts published on his personal Twitter account shortly after the start of the self-defense operations, compared Israel’s actions to Nazi Germany and accused Israel of turning Gaza into a concentration camp to the likes of Auschwitz.

“If I had lived in Germany in 1933 I would have fought on the side of the Jews and if I had lived in Palestine in 1948 I would have fought on the Palestinian side,” Petro wrote at the time. “Now the neo-Nazis want the destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom and culture. Now the democrats and progressives want peace and freedom for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”

Israel responded to Petro’s antisemitic comparisons by issuing a halt on its security exports to Colombia, which have been crucial in Colombia’s decades-long fight against the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) terrorist organizations, as well as other guerrilla groups such as M19.

Petro responded to the halt in security exports with his first threat to have Colombia cut ties with Israel. In March, he once again threatened to cut ties with Israel if Israel did not comply with a non-binding resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at the time that demanded immediate halt in the operations against Hamas.

In March, Petro publicly claimed that some of M19’s members had trained with pro-Palestine paramilitary forces in Libya, stating that both groups had “the same root.”

“Why did we go there under the stars to play guitars? Next to the Polisario Front, which I recognized,” he continued. “Arabs fighting for their nation, for their homeland, against injustice. Look at what is happening today in Palestine. Their homeland that was taken away from them.”

Petro also asserted at the time that M19 had fought with the Palestine Liberation Organization and other groups.

“We also want to have a homeland. That is why the M-19, in stories not known, was in the deserts of the Sahara and was side by side with the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Polisario Front, and the SWAPO,” he claimed, “and, although they may not like it, of the African National Congress, which was Nelson Mandela’s guerrilla. The M19 fought with Nelson Mandela for freedom.”

It remains unclear at press time what will happen to the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and Israel, which went into effect in 2020. The treaty allows Colombia to easily export fuel, mineral oils, coffee, tea, spices, and electrical and image recording equipment to Israel, in addition to more of the nation’s exports.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.