BOGOTÁ (Dispatches) -- 
Colombia’s new U.S.-backed government has severed diplomatic ties with Iran and designated the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist” organization, in a sweeping realignment toward Washington and Tel Aviv that critics describe as wholesale subservience to foreign masters.
In a statement Thursday, the Colombian Foreign Ministry claimed the decision to cut ties with Iran, effective September 19, was based on “hemispheric national security” considerations. 
It claimed without any proof that the Iranian government has ties to “narco-terrorist groups that threaten the security of the country,” and accused Tehran of posing a “serious threat to international peace and security” — unsubstantiated allegations that echo U.S. and Israeli talking points verbatim.
The move completes the capture of Bogotá by right-wing multimillionaire and dual U.S. citizen Abelardo de la Espriella, who was sworn in as president after a runoff election in June held under controversial circumstances. 
U.S. President Donald Trump personally endorsed de la Espriella’s campaign, helping install a puppet who replaced Gustavo Petro — a staunchly pro-Palestine, anti-imperialist leader.
De la Espriella is an open admirer of Trump and has said he wants to subordinate Colombia’s foreign policy to that of the United States. 
He welcomed the U.S. kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and

 has repeatedly said any future diplomatic relationship with Venezuela would be channeled through the U.S. State Department. 
He supports regime change in Cuba and its annexation by the United States as a territory in free association, similar to Puerto Rico.
His subservience to Israel is equally brazen. He has announced plans to restore full diplomatic relations with the Israeli regime — ties severed by Petro in protest against the Gaza genocide — and pledged to move Colombia’s embassy to occupied Al-Quds. 
His government has already recognized Israel’s claim of sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, making Colombia only the second country to do so. 
He has pledged to resume coal exports to Israeli-occupied territories, reversing Petro’s July 2025 order blocking all coal supplies in response to the genocide in Gaza.
Colombia informed the International Court of Justice on Tuesday that it decided to withdraw its declaration of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. Former President Petro condemned the withdrawal as a “source of shame.”
Following de la Espriella’s victory, Netanyahu publicly gloated that “friends of Israel keep winning.”