Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday that President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella "obeys directly" the U.S. government, during a ceremony handing over the sword of independence hero Simón Bolívar two weeks before leaving power.

Petro, the first leftist to govern Colombia, will transfer power on August 7 to De la Espriella, a far-right attorney who received the support of U.S. President Donald Trump to defeat the ruling party's candidate in June. Colombia and the United States, two historic allies, are experiencing unprecedented diplomatic tensions since Trump assumed his second term, during which he has repeatedly clashed with Petro.

The leftist leader, who does not recognize the results of the recent election and claims that the winner was ruling-party Senator Iván Cepeda, has criticized Trump's "interference" in Colombian politics due to his explicit backing of De la Espriella.

De la Espriella, who also holds U.S. citizenship, "obeys directly the United States Department of State" headed by Republican Marco Rubio, Petro said Friday at a ceremony in which he handed over Simón Bolívar's sword to a museum in Bogotá—the same sword the leftist leader requested for his own inauguration four years ago.

The sword, displayed inside a glass case, arrived escorted by Petro and a delegation of ministers and presidential guards. "It seems that many drug trafficking advisors live in Washington and advise the president of the United States," Petro said during his speech at the museum, which during the 19th century served as the independence leader's estate in Bogotá. "The five Bolivarian republics are in the process of losing their independence," he added.

The president-elect recently announced that he will open an office of the Shield of the Americas in Medellín—the regional alliance led by Trump to combat drug trafficking.