Colombian President Gustavo Petro launched a new diplomatic attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, placing him in a historical context with figures who committed major massacres. Petro stated in a post that Netanyahu represents a contemporary model of genocide, likening him to the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés, who led the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
The Colombian President clarified that the historical record of victims of systematic killing who fell at the hands of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Hernán Cortés is estimated in the millions, which places them on the same level in terms of criminality. These statements come within the framework of Colombia's firm stance towards Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially since the outbreak of the recent war.
These responses came in reaction to a political debate that erupted between Mexico and Spain, after the president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, defended the legacy of the Spanish conquest and the figure of Cortés. Petro exploited this controversy to highlight what he described as the 'crimes of extermination' committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip, linking the old colonial mentality with the current reality.
Historical data indicates that the Central American region witnessed a demographic catastrophe after Cortés's arrival in 1519, where the indigenous population declined from about 30 million to less than two million people. Historical sources attribute this collapse to a series of brutal massacres and epidemics that accompanied the 'Conquista' or Spanish conquest, which Petro evoked in his comparison.
On the diplomatic front, the repercussions of the colonial past continue to cast a shadow over relations between Madrid and Latin American countries, despite Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's attempts to normalize relations. Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had explicitly demanded a Spanish royal apology for the abuses of the conquest, a request that was met with rejection and silence from the royal palace.
In the Palestinian context, reports linked these political statements to the reality on the ground in the Gaza Strip, where occupation forces have continued to wage a devastating war since October 2023. These ongoing military operations have resulted in the martyrdom of more than 72,000 Palestinians and the injury of over 172,000 others, a toll that shows the scale of the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Field statistics confirm that the Israeli aggression was not limited to human losses but also extended to systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, reaching 90%. Countries like Colombia consider these practices to amount to war crimes and genocide, which has prompted them to take strong international stances demanding accountability for the occupation leaders before international courts.
Hernán Cortés was a genocidal figure comparable to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and even worse.
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Colombian President attacks Netanyahu, likens him to 'butcher' of Spanish colonialism Hernán Cortés