Colombia’s president-elect to close 14 embassies, break ties with Cuba and Nicaragua in first diplomatic overhaul

Diplomatic reorganization announced

The president-elect said in a live broadcast on 26 July that the closures are a first step toward modernising Colombia’s foreign service. Among the 14 embassies to be shuttered are those in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Hungary, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Romania, Senegal and South Africa. About 15 consulates will also close. De la Espriella framed the move as a way to cut costs and reduce duplication.

“Colombia needs a diplomacy that is modern, efficient and at the service of national interests, not of politicking and bureaucracy.”

Break with Cuba and Nicaragua

While most closures do not sever diplomatic ties, De la Espriella singled out Cuba and Nicaragua for a full rupture. “There will be no link whatsoever with tyrannies in my government,” he said. Colombian citizens in the other affected countries will continue to receive assistance through concurrent representation from nearby missions. The break marks a sharp shift from outgoing President Gustavo Petro, who maintained active relations with Havana and Managua.

Mission unifications and strategic openings

De la Espriella announced that Colombia’s embassies in France and at UNESCO, both in Paris, will be unified under a single ambassador, as will the missions in Italy and at the FAO in Rome. He also confirmed the reopening of the Colombian embassy in Israel, which will operate from Jerusalem, fulfilling a campaign promise. Separately, a new embassy will open in Nigeria to better coordinate the country’s presence in Africa. The planned opening of an embassy in Palestine, ordered by Gustavo Petro but never operational, will be suspended.

Domestic moves and cost-saving claims

The incoming president said Barranquilla will become the permanent seat of the presidency, and Bogotá’s Casa de Nariño will be turned into a public museum. He intends to hold his inauguration ceremony in Cali, pending a congressional vote next week. Within the first 100 days of his government, De la Espriella will order a technical audit of all remaining diplomatic missions to assess whether they should continue.

“Every peso we save in bureaucracy will be a peso we can invest in security, health, education, infrastructure and, above all, opportunities for the poorest.”

Election and ideological backdrop

De la Espriella, who has cited Donald Trump as an inspiration, won the Colombian presidency in June by a narrow margin over leftist candidate Iván Cepeda. His platform included a pledge to restore order and build what he calls the “Patria milagro” (Miracle Homeland). The diplomatic restructuring, announced less than two weeks before he takes office, signals a foreign policy aligned more closely with conservative sectors of the continent and a confrontational stance toward authoritarian governments in the region.