US recalls top diplomat in Colombia as tensions with President Petro escalate
By ASTRID SUÁREZ
Updated 5:00 PM CDT, July 3, 2025
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday recalled its top diplomat in Colombia for “urgent consultations” after recent comments from Colombia’s president appearing to question the U.S. position on an alleged plan to remove him from office.
The U.S. State Department said Thursday that the charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Bogota, John McNamara, would be returning to Washington “following baseless and reprehensible statements from the highest levels of the government of Colombia.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro responded in kind, recalling Colombia’s ambassador to Washington for consultation. He said he wants to talk to Amb. Daniel García Peña about progress on Colombia’s priorities in the bilateral relationship.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement that the administration would also be “pursuing other measures to make clear our deep concern over the current state of our bilateral relationship.” The statement did not elaborate on the reasons for the recall.
Later on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the move on X, writing that “Our nation is committed to the U.S.-Colombia bilateral relationship and the Colombian people. We will remain engaged on shared priorities, including security and stability.”
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https://apnews.com/article/colombia-us-trump-petro-613670fda6370c66746f6e6b4ba1af15
Gustavo Petro is the only progressive President Colombia has ever had, has only been in office a couple of years. Colombia's feudal, fascist, violent hard right government, heavily involved with Washington hard righters, has utilized paramilitary forces, even joining them in massacres of villages, to suppress dissidence through political assassinations of countless progressive politicians, including multiple public murders of campaigning Presidential candidates, even a popular comedian, and torturing and mass murdering villagers publicly. Paramilitaries have used chainsaws to demolish suspected leftists in public. Washington has poured billions into Colombia's power structure to support the efforts to control the population.
A woman, with help from her husband, attempted to snag bodies of executed villagers after they had been tossed into rivers, and return them to their loved ones.
Paras even took the time from their busy schedules to go into voting booths with voters and oversee their voting, and do extensive social cleansing of drunks, women they considered prostitutes, and street vendors.
They utilized mass graves, and even a crematorium.
The Colombian military engaged in "false positives" in creating the illusion Colombian men they had snatched and murdered randomly, then dressed in paramilitary clothes (looks like military, without names and insignias) for their photos they used as "proof" for body counts, after which they were awarded favors. The story finally was "broken" (after years) by the Washington Post.