Colombia expels Argentine diplomat after Milei calls president ‘murdering terrorist’

COLOMBIA has expelled Argentina’s ambassador after President Javier Milei called his Colombian counterpart a “terrorist,” ”murderer” and “communist”.

Mr Milei, an outspoken libertarian economist, made the remarks about Gustavo Petro, a former member of the long-disbanded M-19 Marxist guerilla group, in an interview with CNN’S Spanish-language network due to be broadcast on Sunday.

In a statement announcing the expulsion, Colombia’s foreign ministry described the Argentine leader’s comments as “denigrating”. It added that they had “eroded the trust of our nation as well as offending the dignity of President Petro”.

Bogota had already withdrawn its ambassador to Buenos Aires, Camilo Romero, in January following a similar verbal assault from Mr Milei. On Wednesday, it said the Argentine president’s “insults… say more about him than they do about Petro”.

Mr Petro, 63, joined M-19 when he was a student. Usually regarded as social-democratic in ideology, the group was founded in response to the apparent rigging of Colombia’s 1970 election.

Its most famous operation was the stealing of the sword of Simón Bolívar, who led Spanish-speaking South America’s independence.

The diplomatic spat is the latest example of Mr Milei’s outbursts against his political opponents, including on the international stage.

He has already launched broadsides against the democratically elected Leftist leaders of Chile, Brazil and Mexico.

In his CNN interview, he also described Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as “ignorant”.

‘He has eroded the trust of our nation as well as offending the dignity of President Petro’