Bogotá, Colombia - Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro will visit his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Diaz-Canel, to discuss the US' "policy of strangulation" on the communist island, Colombia's foreign minister said Thursday.

Petro is set to visit the island nation on Friday, just one week before his mandate expires and brings Colombia's first-ever leftist government to a close.

He is a fierce critic of Washington's foreign policy and an ardent defender of US-blockaded Cuba.

Fuel shortages, regular blackouts, and generally deteriorating living conditions have become the norm on the island since the blockade took effect in January, followed by waves of US sanctions on different sections of Cuba's administration.

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Petro will travel to Havana to "find out firsthand what situation the country is facing socially and economically" due to Washington's "policy of strangulation," Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio told radio station La FM.

Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, who will take office on August 7, on Sunday announced plans to sever diplomatic ties with Cuba and Nicaragua – both run by leftist administrations.

"In my government, there will be no ties with tyrannies," said the millionaire lawyer, who was endorsed by US President Donald Trump.

The Cuban government stated Tuesday that De la Espriella's announcement proved his "clear submission" to the US.

Washington maintains that Cuba poses a security threat to the region and violates the rights of its citizens.