Columbia has begun mass production of weapons for its military in a bid to boycott Israeli arms over its protest against the Gaza war.
Indumil, the state-owned weapons manufacturer, is now mass-producing the first combat rifle in Colombia to replace the Israeli-origin Galil rifle. Subsequently, the country is also producing other ordnance to reduce its weapons’ dependence on Israel.
Columbia was an ally to Israel before the country launched a genocidal war in Gaza, which has killed more than 65,400 people in just two years.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro has since been a staunch advocate for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and a two-state solution for Gaza and Israel. He broke ties with Israel in 2024 to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
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The Leftist President also expressed strong support for the two-state solution during the 80th UN General Assembly session address in New York on Tuesday.
The Colombian government aims to scale up its production of weapons to manufacture 400,000 lighter and cheaper rifles in the next five years.
While there are some concerns raised by experts over the capability of the Latin American nation to scale up military production in the country without paying a massive price, they believe Colombia can independently achieve such a target with the help of foreign investors, which in this case would most likely be China and Russia.
Petro has also halted purchases of arms from the United States after US President Donald Trump removed Colombia from his list of allies in the fight against drugs.
For the past three decades, Colombia's leaders have taken up arms against guerrillas and drug traffickers involved in cocaine and illegal gold operations.
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