BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s ambassador in Washington is taking heat after a recording surfaced in which he criticizes the U.S. State Department as a feckless institution subjugated to the White House.

Publimetro on Wednesday released a recording of a conversation between Francisco Santos and the U.S. ally’s incoming foreign minister. The Bogota newspaper says the private conversation happened last week at a Washington cafe and was recorded by a third person it did not identify.

In the conversation, Santos complains that the State Department had lost its muscle as a driver of U.S. policy as it was when he was Colombia’s vice president a decade ago. He compares it to a nongovernmental organization.

Santos apologized for his comments. He says the conversation was illegally recorded but offered no proof to back the claim.