Colombia's President-Elect Plans to Sever Ties with Cuba and Nicaragua

Abelardo de la Espriella, the president-elect of Colombia supported by the United States, has declared his intention to sever his country's diplomatic relations with Cuba and Nicaragua immediately after taking office.

The far-right president, who is set to assume power on August 7, stated, "There will be no relations with authoritarian regimes in my government," as reported by Agence France-Presse.

Through social media, de la Espriella announced the closure of 15 consulates and 14 embassies, specifying that the diplomatic break will be limited to only two countries: Cuba and Nicaragua.

De la Espriella won the recent presidential election by a narrow margin and received explicit support from U.S. President Donald Trump during his campaign.

Historically allied, Colombia and the United States have experienced unprecedented diplomatic tensions since the start of Trump's second term, marked by repeated clashes between Trump and the outgoing leftist president Gustavo Petro.

According to Petro, Abelardo de la Espriella receives direct orders from the U.S. State Department. Petro criticized what he described as Trump's "interference" in Colombian politics due to his overt backing of de la Espriella.

In Nicaragua, the parliament and electoral authority are moving toward approving reforms that exclude the opposition from elections, following the wishes of President Daniel Ortega, who has been in power since 2007.

Relations between Cuba and the United States have significantly deteriorated in recent months amid repeated threats from Trump to take control over the island.

De la Espriella also plans to reopen a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem and suspend the project to establish a Colombian embassy in Palestinian territories, an initiative launched by Gustavo Petro.

Bogotá intends to close its embassies in Algeria, Haiti, Barbados, Hungary, Senegal, Ethiopia, South Africa, among other countries. For example, embassies in Italy and France will be merged.

The president-elect justified these changes by citing budgetary reasons, expressing a desire to save funds or increase allocations for security.