Leftist Latin American leaders recall ambassadors, cut ties with Israel over Gaza war

The Bolivian government severed diplomatic ties with Israel on Tuesday after saying the Jewish state was carrying out “crimes against humanity.” 

“Bolivia decided to break diplomatic relations with the State of Israel in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip,” said Bolivian Eeputy Foreign Minister Freddy Mamani during a news conference. 

Israel's Foreign Ministry responded in a statement accusing Bolivia of "aligning itself with the Hamas terrorist organization” and surrendering to Iran's ayatollah’s regime/

“The government of Bolivia's decision to cut diplomatic ties with Israel is a surrender to terrorism and to the Ayatollah’s regime in Iran."

“By taking this step, the Bolivian government is aligning itself with the Hamas terrorist organization, which slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis and abducted 240 people, including children, women, babies and the elderly.

“Israel condemns Bolivia’s support of terrorism and its submission to the Iranian regime, which attest to the values the government of Bolivia represents. 

“In any case, since the change of government in Bolivia, relations between the countries have been devoid of content.” 

Bolivia did not condemn the Hamas violence on Oct. 7, stating only that it had “deep concern over the violent events that occurred in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestine.” 

Two other South American countries, Chile and Colombia, both with recently-elected leftist presidents, withdrew their ambassadors from Israel, accusing it of “violating international law.” 

Gabriele Boric Font, the president of Chile, announced he was recalling the Chilean ambassador from Israel.

“Given the unacceptable violations of International Humanitarian Law that Israel has incurred in the Gaza Strip, as the Government of Chile we have resolved to call the Chilean ambassador to Israel, Jorge Carvajal, to Santiago for consultations.” 

Columbia President Gustavo Petro posted an image showing dozens of body bags in Gaza with the statement:  “It's called Genocide, they do it to remove the Palestinian people from Gaza and take it over.” 

In another post, Petro also compared the Israelis to Nazis. 

“Now the neo-Nazis want the destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom, and culture.” 

Petro also refused to condemn Hamas' brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7. 

Both Font and Petro were recently elected to their positions and represent leftist political positions.

Petro is a former member of the M19 guerrilla group, and Colombia’s first far-left president.  

Lior Haiat, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, posted a statement on X, formerly Twitter, in Spanish: 

“Israel condemns the president's statements that reflect support for the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists, stoke anti-Semitism, affect representatives of the State of Israel and threaten the peace of the Jewish community in Colombia. 

“In response, as a first step, Israel decided to halt security exports to Colombia.” 

Colombia has maintained extensive military ties with Israel since 1980, when it purchased a group of Kfir fighter planes for use against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). 

Security analysts in Bogota said the ban on exports could have a debilitating effect on Colombia’s ability to combat drug traffickers and rebels. 

Jorge Restrepo, the director of CERAC, a security think tank in Bogota, said a sustained ban “will be debilitating and extremely costly,” forcing the Colombian government to find other providers and retrain its military on new equipment.