Colombia to impose visa requirement on Israeli visitors – Colombia News

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry is likely to impose visa restrictions on visitors from Israel after the Middle Eastern country imposed similar restrictions on Colombian citizens.

This became clear after the Foreign Ministry published a draft decree in which Israeli citizens were added to a list of 98 countries with visa restrictions.

Colombia’s migration authorities will require visas for Israeli citizens “in observance of the principle of reciprocity in migratory matters,” the draft decree said.

Israeli migratory authorities apparently have begun requiring visas from Colombians after a rupture in diplomatic relations over the alleged genocide that is going on in Gaza.

President Gustavo Petro recalled his ambassador and expelled the ambassador from Israel last year over “the massacre of the Palestinian people” in the occupied territory on the Mediterranean coast.

Colombia recalls ambassador from Israel over “massacre of the Palestinian people”

Petro additionally banned the exports of coal to the Middle Eastern country, citing international obligations to prevent genocide.

The draft decree was uploaded to the Foreign Ministry website days after Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia appointed former Cali Mayor Jorge Ivan Ospina as Colombia’s ambassador in Palestine.

The newly appointed ambassador won’t be able to hold office in Palestine because of Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank, the administrative center of the Palestinian authority.