Colombian President Gustavo Petro drew a sharp public rebuke from Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations after he invoked Nazi imagery on social media and accused Israel and the United States of carrying political manipulation from “free Palestine” to “free Latin America.”

The exchange began with Petro’s denunciation of a billboard campaign targeting leftist politician Iván Cepeda, the candidate Petro is backing in Colombia’s presidential runoff. Petro called the billboard “a crime,” compared it to Nazi propaganda, and accused the country’s electoral and legal authorities of failing to act. In a post that has drawn international attention, Petro wrote “Heil Hitler” alongside material about the campaign on June 7. He also wrote in Spanish, “Ni Rubio se atrevió a decir esto,” meaning “Not even Rubio dared to say this,” in an apparent reference to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In the same thread, he tied the tactics to Israel and the United States, saying those behind them had operated in “free Palestine” and now intended to do the same in “free Latin America.”

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, responded directly on X. “President of Colombia, @petrogustavo, whatever is going on in your personal life, there are lines that must never be crossed,” Danon wrote. He called the use of Nazi slogans a step from which there is no return and urged Petro to recover his composure and apologize before a UN Security Council session Danon said the Colombian leader was scheduled to chair later in the week.

Danon, who returned to the UN post in 2024 after serving as Israel’s envoy there from 2015 to 2020, has frequently used social media to push back against international criticism of Israel.

The clash landed in the closing stretch of a polarized campaign. Right-wing outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, an admirer of US President Donald Trump, led the May 31 first round with about 43.8 percent, ahead of Cepeda’s roughly 41 percent, sending both to a June 21 runoff. Both leading right-wing candidates have pledged to restore relations with Israel, which Petro’s government severed, while Cepeda has promised continuity with Petro’s agenda. Petro, whose term ends August 7 and who is barred from reelection, has openly thrown his weight behind Cepeda and has disputed the first-round count, pushing fraud claims that Colombian authorities have rejected.

The Israel and US framing is not new for Petro. Days earlier, he alleged that money tied to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aided by US officials, was being used to buy votes for de la Espriella. He has also accused Trump of interfering in the election after the US president voiced support for de la Espriella.

Petro has been among Israel’s fiercest critics in Latin America since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the start of the war in Gaza. Colombia broke diplomatic relations with Israel in May 2024 after Petro accused it of genocide, a charge Israel rejected while accusing him of rewarding Hamas. In January 2025, Petro claimed Zionism was backed by international financial capital, remarks critics said echoed antisemitic tropes. In August 2025, a report revealed he had signed a presidential directive institutionalizing state support for Palestine. In September 2025, his US visa was revoked after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York and urged US soldiers to disobey orders, and days later he moved to expel Israeli diplomats over Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

The dispute also plays out against a broader regional shift. Over the past year, a wave of right-wing, Trump-aligned leaders has taken power across Latin America, including in Bolivia, Honduras, Chile, and Costa Rica, with several renewing or expanding cooperation with Israel. Argentine President Javier Milei has championed the Isaac Accords, an initiative to deepen Israel-Latin America ties that was signed in Jerusalem in April. A Cepeda victory would mark a counterweight to that trend.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)