Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bolaños has apologised in a letter addressed to Democratic Party leaders in the United States for offensive remarks he had posted about them before joining the government of Abelardo de la Espriella.
Bolaños had posted several offensive messages on social media targeting political figures, including Kamala Harris, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, before taking office this summer and ahead of the Democratic Party’s victory in last week’s US midterm elections.
In a letter written in English and dated 10 November, whose authenticity was confirmed by the Foreign Ministry, he said: “I want to offer my sincere apologies. The language I used was inappropriate and disrespectful, and I regret those words and the impact they had.”
Before taking up his ministerial post, Bolaños was known on social media for his far-right ideological views and his strong criticism of the United Nations, as well as for defending Donald Trump’s “election fraud” theory regarding the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Biden.
The minister added in his letter: “I wrote those posts before taking office as foreign minister. My views have evolved since then, and those messages no longer reflect my current opinions. Nor do they represent the government’s position.”
