Colombia will suspend its coal exports to Israel, more than the war in Gaza

Bogota Colombia – Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Saturday that his region would stop exporting coal to Israel because of the Gaza war, citing strained relations between the two countries, once close military and commercial allies.

Petro wrote on the social media platform X that coal exports would not resume until “the genocide” in Gaza stops. Petro also published a draft decree stating that coal exports would only resume if Israel complied with a new order from the International Court of Justice requiring Israel to withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip.

According to Colombia’s national statistics agency, coal exports to Israel totaled over $320 million in the first eight months of last year, a small fraction of the country’s total coal exports, which were valued at over $9 billion in 2023.

According to the American Journal for Transportation, Israel imports more than 50 percent of its coal from Colombia and uses much of it to power its power plants.

Petro, who was elected in 2022 as Colombia’s first left-wing president, broke off diplomatic relations with Israel in May, saying he could not maintain relations with the “genocidal” government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The two governments continue to maintain consulates in each other’s territories and engage in trade.

Colombia has long depended on Israel for military equipment such as assault rifles and reconnaissance equipment. The South American country has also received more than 30 fighter jets from Israel in the past three years and relies on Israeli companies to maintain them.

However, new military purchases have been halted as relations between the two countries deteriorate. Critics of Petro have said the president’s decision to cut ties with Israel jeopardizes Colombia’s security capabilities as its military battles drug cartels and rebel groups in rural areas of the country.

Unlike previous Colombian presidents who maintained strong ties with Israel, Petro was an outspoken critic of the Middle Eastern country and initially refused to condemn the Hamas attack that preceded the Israeli invasion of Gaza.