Conservative former President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe Vélez helped defuse a short-lived diplomatic crisis between Colombia and the United States caused by far-left President Gustavo Petro on Sunday, The New York Times reported on Monday.
Petro, a former member of the Marxist M19 terrorist guerrilla and Colombia’s first leftist president ever, caused an hours-long diplomatic crisis after he abruptly refused to accept a U.S. deportation flight of Colombian migrants, announcing the sudden decision in a tweet in the early morning hours of Sunday.
In response, President Donald Trump announced a barrage of retaliatory measures that Petro responded to in a long, incoherent Twitter rant. Hours later, the Colombian government announced that it had “agreed to all” of President Trump’s terms.
The New York Times, citing a Colombian government official who spoke under condition of anonymity, stated in its report that at least three former presidents, including Uribe, offered to participate in the talks. Former President Álvaro Uribe, one of the leading conservative figures in Colombia and a fierce opponent of Petro’s far-left government, “quickly jumped in” to help defuse the diplomatic crisis caused by Petro that “threatened to devastate Colombia’s economy and upend relations in the region.”
According to the report, Uribe reached out to Laura Sarabia, who is part of Petro’s inner circle, and offered to “help navigate the storm.” At the time of the Sunday diplomatic crisis, Sarabia served as the head of DAPRE, the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic.
Last week, the Colombian government announced that Sarabia would replace then-outgoing Foreign Minister Luis Murillo. Sarabia took office as Colombia’s new foreign minister on Wednesday.
“One official with knowledge of the events said that Mr. Uribe had called Ms. Sarabia and said, essentially: We have differences with President Petro. He made a mistake. But we need to resolve this. How can I help?” The report read.
According to the report, Sarabia urged former President Uribe to “call his friends in Washington,” including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to The New York Times, Republican senators “also weighed in, urging the Trump administration to show restraint.”
Colombian outlet Noticias Caracol reported on Tuesday afternoon that “highly reliable sources” in the Colombian Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Department of State confirmed to the outlet that Uribe called Secretary Rubio, who at the time was reportedly in Florida with President Trump, to “mediate in favor of Colombia.”
Noticias Caracol also stated that Uribe had spoken with Sarabia over the phone and “warned her” that the diplomatic crisis Petro caused went “beyond many things and that this was a matter of the State, of the country and not of the government in office.”
The Colombian outlet stated that the “crisis was so serious” that several Colombian ministers, directors of government institutions, called Sarabia and told her that they would not support Petro in his feud with the United States. Similarly, congressmen from the ruling Historic Pact leftist coalition, liberal, conservative, and even green party lawmakers told Sarabia “not to count on them” and questioned the severity of the crisis unleashed by Petro.
Most notably, Caracol Noticias stressed that neither Sarabia, former Foreign Minister Murillo, Ambassador to Washington Daniel García-Peña, nor Vice-Foreign Minister Jorge Rojas had any contact with Petro throughout the morning and afternoon hours of Sunday.
“Laura Sarabia was able to establish contact with Petro when night fell and it was then that the president authorized them to find a solution to the situation and the president stopped writing messages on social networks,” Noticias Caracol reported.
Former President Uribe referred to the situation in a post on social media in which he stated that “a third person, who has no involvement in politics,” called him and informed him that Sarabia urgently needed to speak with him.
1. Se supo la noticia del grave problema con los Estados Unidos;
— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) January 28, 2025
2. El partido Centro Democrático publicó en redes un comunicado, que me correspondió redactar;
3. Me llamó una tercera persona, quien ninguna participación tiene en la política, me dijo que la señora Canciller…
“I told her to arrange a communication between the three of us (Three Line),” Uribe said. “The Chancellor told me that they already had a solution that they were consulting about, that she had read our communication. I told her I wished [to help], the issue required an urgent solution. The communication ended.”
Sarabia thanked “several members of the Foreign Relations Advisory Committee, trade unions and associations for their opinions,” in a subsequent social media post.
“As in this situation, I will continue to call for efforts to strengthen the common purpose, beyond domestic agendas, and to move forward in the management of this situation, which is still ongoing,” Sarabia’s message read.
Noticias Caracol pointed out that Colombia’s Foreign Relations Advisory Committee is made up of former presidents, former foreign ministers, and presidents of the Foreign Relations Committees of Congress.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
