Colombia bans coal exports to Israel in retaliation for Palestinian genocide

Brasil de Fato

On Sunday (18), the Colombian government announced it would ban coal exports to Israel starting on Thursday (22). The justification is Israel’s genocidal actions against Palestinians since October last year in the Gaza Strip.  

“With Colombian coal, [Israel] produces bombs to kill Palestinian children,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro on X.  

According to Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), coal is an essential raw material for the manufacture of military weapons and the main product that the country exports to Israel. Between January and August 2023, coal accounted for 93% of Colombian exports to the Israelis.  

President Petro, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo, and the South American country’s finance, mining, and trade ministers signed the decree. The seven-page document cites measures by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on “the gravity of the humanitarian situation caused in Palestine by the military operation carried out by Israel after October 7, 2023.”  

In June, President Petro announced the decision to ban coal exports to Israel until there is a ceasefire. In May, the Colombian government had already announced the break in relations. Colombia has also called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the massacre in Gaza.   

The distancing of the Petro government – the first left-wing government in Colombia’s history – from Israel breaks an alliance between the two countries. Since the 1980s, governments in Bogota have used the expertise of the Israeli Secret Service, the Mossad, to repress the opposition and guerrillas in the country.   

*With Telesur