The government vowed to protect the US embassy in Bogota ahead of anti-genocide and anti-apartheid protests scheduled throughout Colombia for Tuesday.
In a post on social media platform X, President Gustavo Petro said that he would not impede a march from the embassy building in the north of Bogota to the central Bolivar Square.
In the same message, Petro said that “the government of Colombia will protect the Embassy of the US,” the main sponsor of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
I ask protesters to abide by the rules of peace. My position differs from that of the US government, and we are attacked for it, but we stand firm on the principles of our constitution. Peace in the Caribbean and peace in the world. Respect the territory under diplomatic immunity of the US embassy.
President Gustavo Petro
In a separate post, Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said that the government supports protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people, but stressed that “there can’t be vandalism.”
Benedetti said that the government would also protect US companies against possible retaliations “despite the fact that they left [the presidential palace] unprotected” amid growing tensions between Bogota and Washington DC.
The Government will GUARANTEE the security of the US Embassy in Bogota and of US companies in Colombia despite the fact they left the Casa de Nariño unprotected. In peace and for a free Palestine.
Armando Benedetti
The October 7 protests were called by two activists who were kidnapped by Israel as they took part in a global flotilla that sought to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the enclave.
The two activists, Manuela Bedoya and Luna Barreto, were expelled from Israel earlier on Tuesday after spending almost a week in prison there.
The protests have been opposed by the ruling class, which apparently wants to commemorate victims of the Palestinian military offenive that triggered the two-year-long genocide.
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