Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia’s president-elect has unveiled one of the country’s most dramatic foreign policy shifts in decades, announcing plans to close or suspend diplomatic missions in 15 countries spanning Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe, while reopening Colombia’s embassy in Jerusalem a move that signals a decisive break from the outgoing administration’s international agenda.
The president-elect said embassies in Palestine, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Hungary, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Romania, Senegal and South Africa would either be closed or have their operations suspended as part of a broader effort to cut government spending and refocus Colombia’s diplomatic engagement on countries deemed to offer greater strategic and economic value.
The decision, one of the incoming administration’s first major foreign policy pronouncements since winning the presidential election, underscores a significant ideological shift from the policies of the outgoing government, which had strengthened ties with several developing nations while distancing itself from Israel.
At the center of the diplomatic reset is the planned reopening of Colombia’s embassy in Jerusalem, reversing the current administration’s decision to withdraw diplomatic representation from the city amid deteriorating relations with Israel over the war in Gaza.
