The incoming administration of conservative President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella will close the Colombian embassy in Havana, Cuba, incoming Foreign Minister Omar Bula announced on Thursday.
The decision, Bula said, is part of a larger planned overhaul of Colombia’s diplomatic engagement, reducing contact with the Communist Party to “the minimum,” as the incoming conservative government “does not want to support dictatorships.”
Similarly, Colombia will not maintain its embassy in Nicaragua, a nation ruled by the communist dictatorship of Daniel Ortega. Neither the Castro nor Ortega regimes have publicly commented on the announcement by the incoming Colombian foreign minister at press time.
President-elect de la Espriella will take office as Colombia’s next head of state on August 7. On that day, he will succeed outgoing Marxist President Gustavo Petro and serve for four years as Colombia’s head of state. Over the past days, the president-elect has announced the names of some of the men and women who will form his incoming cabinet of ministers.
On Wednesday, de la Espriella announced on social media that Colombian diplomat and economist Omar Bula will serve as his foreign minister. The president-elect detailed that Bula’s expertise will be “fundamental” to rebuilding and managing the Colombian Foreign Ministry so the country can “reclaim the place it deserves among nations and lead once again with dignity, seriousness, and results.”
Bula spoke with both Noticias Caracol and Noticias RCN on Thursday to discuss some of the upcoming changes in Colombia’s foreign policy once de la Espriella is inaugurated. The incoming minister announced during both interviews that Colombia will not maintain embassies in Cuba and Nicaragua — describing both the Castro and Ortega regimes as dictatorships.
Instead, he stressed, Colombia will put an emphasis on maintaining and fostering diplomatic relations with democratic nations around the world that share “the vision of Western values.”
“For me, an embassy in a dictatorship, and I have been very critical since I was in the United Nations, legitimizes the dictatorship,” Bula said during his interview with Noticias Caracol.
“We are not going to legitimize regimes by putting an embassy,” he stressed to Noticias RCN.
The incoming foreign minister said that minimum communication channels could be maintained through designated chargés d’affaires. He explained to Noticias RCN that the incoming conservative government of de la Espriella will immediately work to restore relations with the United States after outgoing Marxist President Petro severely strained the historic, decades-old friendly ties between the nations.
Bula also explained that Colombia will immediately restore diplomatic ties with Israel on August 7, the first day of President-elect de la Espriella’s administration. For decades, Colombia maintained friendly ties with Israel until President Petro unilaterally had the South American nation cut all ties in 2024 as part of his broader antagonistic campaign against the country.
With regards to neighboring Venezuela, ruled over the past 27 years by a socialist regime led now by “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez, Bula referred to the United States’ ongoing three-phase stabilization, recovery, and transition process. The designated foreign minister said that Colombia will follow the ongoing transition process in Venezuela with the expectation of working together in favor of democracy.
“Relations with Venezuela, first of all, are an opportunity, a unique opportunity for two countries very rich in natural resources, in human talent,” Bula reportedly said, and anticipated “constructive” links to the neighboring nation with a focus on “creating wealth for the two countries” and “ending border problems” such as organized criminal gangs — a task he said involves Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and the whole region.
Bula, referring to the changes in Venezuela following the arrest of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, said that de la Espriella’s administration does not expect the changes to be immediate.
“People have to be clear that the presence of 21st century socialism in Venezuela and the red wave that happened in the past has deep roots. Changes cannot be made overnight,” Bula said.
“The important thing is to decide to make the change. We are very determined to make that change and people have to have a little more patience,” he added.
Bula also argued that it would “not be prudent” to hold free elections in Venezuela just yet and affirmed that there is still “a very clear presence of the remnants of the past regime” in Venezuela.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.