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Less than a year after celebrating the historic return of its diplomatic mission to Addis Ababa, Colombia is moving to deprioritize its diplomatic doors in Ethiopia once again.
The decision forms part of a sweeping global diplomatic retrenchment announced by Colombia’s incoming president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, who promised deep budget cuts across the South American country’s foreign footprint.
The planned closure marks a surprisingly brief chapter in Colombia-Ethiopian relations.
Only last August, high-ranking delegates gathered in Addis Ababa for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that felt like a major diplomatic milestone. Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez Mina stood alongside Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos to inaugurate the office, formally ending a nearly five-decade hiatus.
Related: Malaysia Reopens Embassy in Addis Ababa After 43 Years
Colombia originally established its mission in Ethiopia in 1967 before closing it in 1974. The 2025 reopening was designed to revitalize a 75-year diplomatic history, positioning Addis Ababa as a central hub for Bogota’s broader ties with the African Union. High-level meetings between Vice President Márquez and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, along with business roundtables at the Hyatt Regency, highlighted joint ambitions in trade, investment, and South-South dialogue.
Now, before many of those trade initiatives could fully mature, the mission is caught in the crosshairs of a major political shift thousands of miles away in Bogota.
Fiscal Austerity and Foreign Strategy Shift
The drive to close the Addis Ababa embassy stems directly from political changes following Colombia’s latest presidential election. The incoming president, set to take office on August 7, announced a plan to shutter 14 embassies and roughly 15 consulates across the globe.
During a social media broadcast detailing his agenda, de la Espriella framed the closures as a necessary cost-cutting measure for a government heavily burdened by foreign bureaucracy.
“We cannot maintain such an expensive structure that does not produce concrete results for the country. Every peso we save on bureaucracy is a peso we can invest in security, health, education, infrastructure, and above all, opportunities for the poorest.”
Besides Ethiopia, the list of impacted embassies includes Algeria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Hungary, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Romania, Senegal, and South Africa. The policy shift has sparked debate within the Latin American Country.
De la Espriella has clarified that while ties with Cuba and Nicaragua will be fully severed, closing embassies in nations like Ethiopia does not signify a breakdown of diplomatic relations. Instead, consular services will be handled remotely or through consolidated neighboring missions.
A Direct Reversal of the Petro Era
This sharp reduction in foreign spending stands in contrast to the foreign policy of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, whose administration aggressively expanded Colombia’s international footprint. Under Petro, Bogota opened 10 new embassies as part of an effort to strengthen ties across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
As part of the regional realignments in Africa, de la Espriella announced plans to establish a streamlined embassy in Nigeria to coordinate regional diplomatic priorities.
