“We are surprised about the report in the media and are waiting to receive explanations from the new government, which is looking into the matter,” he  said.

A day after President Ivan Duque was inaugurated in Bogota, it was revealed that the outgoing government of Juan Manuel Santos had quietly recognized a Palestinian state last week.

“I would like to inform you that in the name of the government of Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos has decided to recognize Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign state,” Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said.

Duque has said he wanted to improve his country’s good relations with Israel, even openly mulling the idea of moving his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

Duque’s government said it would study the implications of Santos’s last-minute decision on the Palestinians, but acknowledged that it was legal.

The State of Palestine has been recognized by more than 135 United Nations member states.