Colombia’s Ambassador to Portugal, José Fernando Bautista, 61, died Thursday in Lisbon, the country’s vice-minister of foreign affairs announced in a post on the social network “X”.
“It is with great regret that I must inform you that our ambassador to Portugal, José Fernando Bautista, has just died in Lisbon. This is a loss for the government’s foreign policy that deeply hurts us,” Colombian Vice Minister Jorge Rojas Rodríguez wrote on the X network.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, mourned the death of the ambassador and sent a message of solidarity to his Colombian counterpart, in which he conveyed to the diplomat’s family “regrets and solidarity” on his behalf and on behalf of the Portuguese people.
“In this moment of horror, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his great appreciation for the professionalism, dynamism and high diplomatic qualifications of Ambassador José Fernando Bautista, and above all for his efforts to deepen and strengthen the ties of friendship and cooperation between Portugal and Colombia since the beginning of their mission in Lisbon in 2023,” the Belém Palace said in a statement.