Colombia issues decree banning COAL EXPORTS to Israel in protest of Netanyahu’s ongoing war crimes and violence against civilians

08/28/2024 / By Ava Grace

The South American nation of Colombia has issued a degree banning coal exports to Israel.

According to the Brasil de Fato (BdF) news outlet, the decree was issued on Aug. 18 and took effect four days later on Aug. 22. The seven-page decree was signed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and several members of his cabinet – including Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo, Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla, Mines and Energy Minister Omar Andres Camacho and Commerce Minister German Umana.

The decree read that “coal exports to the state of Israel have been prohibited.” Petro echoed the decree’s main point on X, writing: “With Colombian coal, [Israel] produces bombs to kill Palestinian children.”

Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics noted that coal is an essential raw material for the manufacture of military armaments. It is also the main product the South American nation exports to Israel.

Coal accounted for 93 percent of Colombian exports to Tel Aviv between January and August of last year. According to Sputnik News, coal provided by Bogota accounted for 22 percent of Israel’s total power grid demands.

In June, Petro announced the decision to ban coal exports to Israel until there is a ceasefire. A month prior, Bogota cut diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv over the latter’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Colombia has also called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Related: Colombia breaks diplomatic ties with Israel over GENOCIDE in Gaza.)

Left-wing Petro distances Colombia from Israel

BdF continued that the seven-page decree cited 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 Oct. 7, 2023.”

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, previous Colombian governments have used the expertise of the Israeli Mossad (formally the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) to repress the opposition and guerilla movements in the country.

Petro has opposed Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip multiple times, calling them genocide. In March, the leftist president announced that Bogota would suspend all arms purchases from Israel. At the same time, Petro signed a joint statement by 18 nations calling on Hamas to immediately release hostages held in Gaza to achieve a lasting ceasefire.

Hamas issued a statement praising Petro’s decision to suspend coal exports to Israel. The group, formally the Islamic Resistance Movement, has control of the Gaza Strip and is responsible for the Oct. 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood attack. “We appreciate Petro’s declaration prohibiting the export of coal to the Zionist entity, and his criticism of the use of coal in the manufacturing of bombs against the children of our people,” the statement read.

But Petro’s decree did not come without any opposition, as the Colombian Mining Association (ACM) and the Colombo-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Colombia) voiced out their disagreement.

The ACM said the decree is “illegal and unconstitutional” and “constitutes a serious threat for judicial security and a direct threat to free enterprise and competition.” AmCham Colombia Director Maria Claudia Lacouture, who served as Colombia’s commerce minister from 2016 to 2017, said the country can’t afford to lose income from foreign trade.

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