The British Embassy announced the reintroduction of a visa requirement for Colombians who wish to travel to Great Britain or even transit through its airports on their way somewhere else.[1] The news was not well received and the British government acted with arrogance and contempt for Colombians. Those who had bought their tickets to arrive after the 24th of December must apply for a visa, or they won’t be able to enter the country. They were given just four weeks’ notice.
Petro responded by imposing a visa for British citizens that want to come to the country, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website still includes the British as having a visa exemption (27th of November). The measure was justified on the basis of the principle of reciprocity.[2] He is partly right, but as usually happens with him, there are gaps in his policy. It is good that he does not bend the knee to the British, but on the issue of visas he bends the knee to other countries where there is no type of reciprocity at all and some countries, such as the USA, even places many obstacles in the path of Colombians. Of course, it could be argued that accepting an already existing migratory situation is not the same as a new norm that restricts Colombians’ right to travel. It would also be very naïve to hope that he would start a fight with the USA on the issue of visas.
But given that Petro decided to stand up to a political and economic power like Great Britain (self-identified as the United Kingdom) he could think about other countries that are not as important to the Colombian economy. Great Britain exported £1,100 million sterling to Colombia and imported £852 million.[3] Israel however, exported just US $138.8 million to Colombia in 2022.[4] Israel is also of lesser importance regarding tourism. In 2023 48,360 people with a British passport entered the country as tourists compared to 17,334 with an Israeli passport.[5]
So, if a visa can be imposed on British people, why not on Israelis? Its soldiers come to Colombia without a visa and go to Taganga where they have bars, discos and brothels where they impose a visa. Except for the prostitutes, Colombians are not permitted entry to these places. Colombia is for Israelis a holiday resort for sex tourism, prostitution, drug consumption etc. And it is done in an organized fashion. No other nationality has its own brothels in Colombia.[6] Imposing a visa requirement on them would reduce crime and prostitution levels, amongst other things. It is time for real solidarity with Palestine. Impose a visa now! And remove the electronic visa requirement for Palestinians. If a lack of respect for Colombians and the precious principle of reciprocity is reason enough for imposing visa requirements, then more so is the case for genocide by a state where almost everyone is active in the military.
References
[1] BBC (26/11/2024) Reino Unido vuelve a exigir visado a los turistas de Colombia que deseen visitar el país y Petro anuncia que habrá reciprocidad.
[2] Infobae (26/11/2024) Petro respondió al Reino Unido y anunció que Colombia pedirá visa a ciudadanos británicos que quieran entrar al país. Licsa Gómez.
[3] See.
[4] See.
[5] Figures taken from Migración Colombia.
[6] For further information on this point see Colombia Reports (06/02/2017) How Israeli ex-soldiers turned a Colombia fishing town into a sex and drug den. Richard Kelleher.
⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist with extensive experience in Latin America.
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