The opposition in Colombia has demanded the departure of the foreign affairs minister, Omar Bula, following old messages on social media in which he called the Democratic Party of the United States a "piece of filth", accused it of backing illegal immigration, and echoed, without evidence, the trumpism theory about alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential elections.
"What Mr. Bula has done is offend, insult the Democratic leaders," said Heiner Gaitán, a member of Pacto Histórico in the House of Representatives, recalling the tradition of good relations between Colombia and Washington regardless of who occupied the White House.
"Relations with the United States are a matter of State policy," he emphasized this Thursday on Caracol Radio, a day after Bula himself filed a formal apology for those messages published before taking on the Foreign Affairs portfolio.
The old disparagements regained relevance after several Democratic leaders, following their sweeping victory in the midterm elections held a week ago in the United States, questioned Bula’s suitability. The minister responded with an official apology in which he admitted having used "inappropriate and disrespectful language" toward them in the past and assured that those opinions do not reflect the position of the current Government.
Similarly, Gaitán has argued that Bula’s resignation is also justified by having altered his curriculum vitae and by the so-called "Barranquilla Agreements" with the current Administration of Donald Trump, in which bilateral relations are reconsidered in areas such as security, energy, or mining.
According to the opposition, these agreements compromise Colombia’s sovereignty over its strategic resources, favor a greater military presence of the United States in the country, and bypass controls by both Congress and the Constitutional Court.