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The designated chancellor of Colombia, Omar Bula, announced this Thursday that the incoming government of elected president Abelardo de la Espriella will not establish embassies in Cuba or Nicaragua, in a radical shift of Colombian foreign policy towards both dictatorships.
Bula was explicit in justifying the decision: "We are not going to legitimize regimes by setting up an embassy."
The diplomat described Cuba and Nicaragua as "long-term dictatorships" and ruled out the possibility of the new Colombian government granting them full diplomatic recognition.
The appointed chancellor clarified, however, that Colombia will not sever ties with either country.
To maintain minimal communication channels, the government could resort to figures such as chargé d'affaires, although without full-range diplomatic representations.
The measure represents a significant break from the era of outgoing president Gustavo Petro, who maintained close ties with Havana and Managua.
Under Petro, Cuba hosted peace negotiations with the ELN, and both countries acted as key allies in the process of "total peace."
De la Espriella, who won the presidential runoff on June 21 with nearly 13 million votes, will assume power on August 7, 2026.
During the campaign, he referred to Cuba as "the head of the snake of communism in Latin America" and proposed that the island become a Free Associated State of the United States, similar to Puerto Rico.
Colombia would thus join a regional trend of diplomatic isolation of the Cuban regime.
In March 2026, Ecuador under President Daniel Noboa expelled all Cuban diplomatic staff and forced the closure of the Cuban embassy in Quito.
In contrast to the treatment reserved for Cuba and Nicaragua, Bula adopted a notably different stance towards Venezuela.
"With Venezuela, we will be very close. It is a huge opportunity (...) it is in a process with three very clear stages: stabilization, recovery, and transition," he stated, noting that Colombia will support this process with a view towards eventual democratization.
Among the immediate priorities of the new government is the restoration of relations with United States and Israel, a country with which Petro severed ties in May 2024.
Bula confirmed that the decrees to normalize those relationships are already being drafted and would be signed on August 7th, the day of the presidential inauguration.
"We had been the preferred allies of the United States for a long time," recalled the designated chancellor, who also announced that the three pillars of his administration would be modernization, professionalization, and austerity.
Washington's support for the new Colombian government was evident from the campaign: Donald Trump celebrated the end of the Petro era and promised a "powerful relationship" with De la Espriella, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered cooperation on regional security.
Bula emphasized that the decision regarding Cuba and Nicaragua does not stem from ordinary ideological differences, but rather from a matter of principle: "These are countries that are definitely on a different path, but not so much because of political currents; it's not about ideology, but rather about long-term dictatorships, and I don't think it's our role to legitimize them in any way."
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