Yesterday, Bolivia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Freddy Mamani and Minister to the Presidency Maria Nela Prada announced that the government of President Luis Arce was breaking diplomatic ties with the Israeli government “in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip.” Israel’s actions in Gaza, Prada said, are “a clear violation of international humanitarian law,” and constitute war crimes. She pushed for a ceasefire, which Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Chile have likewise encouraged for.
Lior Haiat, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, charged in response that the Bolivian government “is aligning itself with the Hamas terrorist organization, which slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis and abducted 240 people, including children, women, babies and the elderly. Israel condemns Bolivia’s support of terrorism and its submission to the Iranian regime.”
Although the Chilean and Colombian governments haven’t broken relations, they have both recalled their ambassadors “for consultations.” Chile’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement denouncing violations of international humanitarian law and charged that the Israeli military operations in Gaza are a form of “collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Colombia, which strongly rejected Israel’s military operation in Gaza and called the situation “intolerable,” already has strained relations with Israel stemming from President Gustavo Petro’s earlier statements likening Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Nazis. Posting a tweet yesterday on X, he said, “I have decided to call our ambassador in Israel for consultation. If Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people we cannot be there.”
