By Al Jazeera Apps Support
The United States and Colombia have called home their respective top diplomats in an acceleration of worsening ties, against the backdrop of an alleged plot against Colombia鈥檚 left-wing leader.
Washington, DC went first, recalling its charge d鈥檃ffaires John McNamara on Thursday, 鈥渇ollowing baseless and reprehensible statements from the highest levels of the government of Colombia,鈥 State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, without giving specifics.
In addition to McNamara鈥檚 recall, Bruce said the United States 鈥渋s pursuing other measures to make clear our deep concern over the current state of our bilateral relationship鈥, without further details.
Within hours, Colombia鈥檚 President Gustavo Petro announced he was calling home his top diplomat in Washington, DC, in response.
Ambassador Daniel Garcia-Pena 鈥渕ust come to inform us of the development of the bilateral agenda,鈥 Petro wrote on X, such as tapping South America鈥檚 鈥済reat potential for clean energy鈥 and the fight against 鈥渄rug lords and their international finances鈥.
The diplomatic row came on the heels of the resignation of Colombia鈥檚 foreign minister earlier on Thursday 鈥 the latest top-ranking official to exit Petro鈥檚 government.
鈥淚n recent days, decisions have been made that I do not agree with and that, out of personal integrity and institutional respect, I cannot support,鈥 Laura Sarabia, who was also Petro鈥檚 former chief of staff, wrote on X.
Deterioration of ties
Colombia was until recently one of the US鈥檚 closest partners in Latin America, with decades of right-wing rule, before bilateral relations sharply deteriorated.
Prosecutors in the South American nation opened an investigation this week into an alleged plot to overthrow Petro with the help of Colombian and American politicians, following the publication by the Spanish daily El Pais of recordings implicating former Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva.
鈥淭his is nothing more than a conspiracy with drug traffickers and apparently, the Colombian and American extreme right,鈥 Petro said on Monday.
During a speech in Bogota on Thursday, Petro said he did not think US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom he had previously linked to the alleged overthrow attempt, was 鈥渋n the midst of a coup d鈥檈tat鈥 against his government.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that a government that has Iran as its enemy and nuclear weapons pointed at it 鈥 is going to start fooling around with a coup d鈥檈tat鈥 in Colombia, he said.
In late January, the US briefly suspended consular services to retaliate for Petro鈥檚 refusal to allow US military planes to return Colombian refugees and migrants to their homeland.
Petro accused the US of treating them like criminals, placing them in shackles and handcuffs.
The two countries issued threats and counter-threats of crippling trade tariffs of up to 50 percent.
A backroom diplomatic deal involving the deployment of Colombian air force planes to collect the refugees and migrants averted a looming trade war at the eleventh hour.
Al Jazeera鈥檚 Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota, said the first crisis between the two countries over the deportation of migrants was resolved quickly in January.
鈥淭he current situation is obviously very worrisome as it is unclear what will happen in this case,鈥 he said.
鈥淏ut it shows that ties that were taken for granted might now be unravelling,鈥 Rampietti added.
Colombia鈥檚 left-wing government also recently refused a US request to extradite two prominent rebel leaders wanted by Washington, DC, for alleged drug trafficking.
Last month, Colombia was rattled by bombing attacks in Cali in the southwest of the country that killed seven people, and the attempted assassination of a conservative opposition senator and presidential hopeful, Miguel Uribe Turbay, at a campaign rally in Bogota. The eruption of violence raised fears of a return to the darker days of previous decades, of assassinations and bombings.