Colombia’s New Colombian Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia Faces Challenges Beyond US Diplomatic Crisis

Laura Sarabia, former director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRE) and one of the most important collaborators of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, has been appointed to be the new head of Colombia’s Foreign Ministry.

She was released from her duties at DAPRE on January 20, when the government announced Jorge Rojas, previously deputy foreign minister, would be the new head of this office. The office of the Presidency announced her appointment as the new Foreign Minister the next day. Her responsibilities will officially begin on February 1st, but she is already working with the outgoing Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo to facilitate a smooth transition.

Murillo resigned in time to meet the legal requirements to run for political office in the next presidential election.

Murillo who has been dealing with exigencies like the passport printing contract scandal that removed former Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva, the tense relations with Israel after the Gaza Strip conflict began, and the decisions of the UK and Germany to reimpose visa obligations for Colombians due to abuses of the asylum process, resigned and will leave office next Friday—ostensibly to return to academia. It should be noted however, that Murillo, a former presidential candidate who ran against Petro, resigned in time to meet the legal requirements to run for political office in the next presidential election.

Sarabia has been an important figure in Petro’s government for the last two years serving as a key communication link between ministers and the president. Her position as Petro’s right hand of the President put her into the public eye in May 2023 when a bag with a large amount of money disappeared from her residence. She accused her domestic employee, Merelbys Meza, of taking the money and allegedly forced her to take a polygraph test, This is an open investigation that precipitated her removal from government for seven months, until she returned as the head of the DAPRE.

Her new position will come with some challenges. One of the first tasks she will have is to address the situation created the past Sunday between Petro and the United States President Donald Trump, after Petro denied the entry of two flights bringing back deportees from the US. The initial response from Washington was a package of sanctions against Colombian officials and increasing the tariffs to 50% for Colombian exports, Later the same day, the sanctions were reversed after Petro agreed to Trump’s demands, however, Sarabia will have to carefully manage the diplomatic fallout from the crisis.

Sarabia will also focus her attention on the relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean, as President Petro proposes a unified position from the region against the political decisions made by Washington.

Headline photo: DAPRE Director Laura Sarabia is appointed as new Colombian Chancellor (Source: DAPRE official website)