Colombia’s ambassador to the United States, Daniel Garcia-Pena, has been recalled as part of a diplomatic row with Washington. File Photo by Eduard Ribas Admetlla/EPA
Nov. 11 (UPI) — In a new diplomatic escalation between Colombia and the United States, President Gustavo Petro again recalled Colombia’s ambassador to Washington, Daniel García-Peña, for consultations.
This time, the recall aims to clarify a situation reported by the Colombian magazine Cambio regarding a photo released by the White House on Oct. 21 as part of its official coverage of a meeting between senior officials and Republican senators.
On Sunday, the image drew renewed attention after Cambio published an analysis focusing on a folder held by Deputy Chief of Staff James Blairen. The photo shows Petro alongside Nicolás Maduro, both wearing orange jumpsuits similar to those used in U.S. prisons, as part of a document titled “Trump Doctrine.”
“If an ambassador is called for consultations, the representative of the other country returns to their own country while the necessary information is obtained,” Petro wrote on X, suggesting that while García-Peña is in Bogotá, U.S. chargé d’affaires John McNamara should return to the United States, El Colombiano reported.
“This is about understanding why the official White House page shows me as if I were a prisoner in a U.S. jail. It is a brutal disrespect to the people who elected me and to the Colombian nation and its history,” Petro added.
Colombia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming that Ambassador García-Peña “has been called for consultations” and “is already in Bogotá.”
At the same time, Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio ruled out the expulsion of U.S. chargé d’affaires John McNamara from Colombia, El Tiempo reported.
The Petro government’s decision comes amid a visible deterioration in diplomatic relations between the two countries and adds pressure to a bilateral agenda that includes sensitive issues such as counternarcotics cooperation, migration, trade and hemispheric relations.
According to Cambio, the first paragraph of the document held by Blairen outlines five steps against the Colombian president, three of which are already underway.
The five are designating additional cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, supporting pro-U.S. leaders in the Western Hemisphere, imposing targeted sanctions on Petro, his family and associates, countering corrupt and anti-U.S. criminal activities, and launching a comprehensive investigation into Petro’s campaigns and their foreign financing.
“People should not always rely on what they read in the newspapers,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said when askedwhether the United States had a plan underway to imprison Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
The diplomat addressed the issue during a telephone press briefing with several Latin American media outlets Monday morning.
Landau declined to comment further on the photo, which has since been removed from the U.S. government website, but expressed dissatisfaction with the Colombian president’s statements.