Petro reacts to Trump and defends Colombia’s sovereignty at the polls

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, responded energetically this Tuesday (2) to Donald Trump’s interference and provocations against the candidacy of senator Iván Cepeda, from the Historical Pact and the Alliance for Life, and in favor of the millionaire drug traffickers lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella.

“When one country interferes in the decisions of another, freedom dies. I invite all of Colombia to vote freely and not become anyone’s slave or colony,” said Petro, remembering an entire generation of young men and women who fought alongside Simón Bolívar and Antonio Nariño “to give us freedom and sovereignty.” “If the heart of the world loses its freedom and sovereignty, the hope of the world and Colombia will be extinguished,” he emphasized.

The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Affairs, Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir considered Trump’s statement “an attack on Colombia”. According to Jassir, the announcement also represents an aggression “to institutions, the people and sovereignty”.

Rejecting such shamelessness from the extreme right, Cepeda has condemned foreign interventionism and stressed that “Colombia is neither a protectorate nor a colony”. Hence, the candidate of nationalist and progressive forces highlighted that we are united and mobilized to defeat fascist Uribism, embodied in abject figures such as de la Espriella, who “represents the justification for the worst crimes that have been perpetrated in recent decades, not only the massacre of young people, the persecution of indigenous peoples and the contempt for the poor, but also the neoliberal policies that have impoverished millions and, equally, the criminalization of peace dialogues”.

“Cepeda has a clean and nationalist record,” said former president Samper

Former president Ernesto Samper (1994-1998) ridiculed Trump’s support for Abelardo de la Espriella’s “immoral candidacy” as “vulgar and unacceptable intervention in the country’s internal affairs”.

A member of the Alliance for Life, Samper recalled that “this aggressive aggressive interference in Colombian democracy, already repeated in several Latin American countries, must be rejected by all Colombians in the next elections, voting in defense of our sovereignty led by Iván Cepeda and his clean and nationalist record”.

In addition to the public and notorious interference in the media system – whether through major media outlets or the manipulation of fake news on social media – as proven by Hondurasgate, Trump this time decided to give “congratulations” to “El Tigre” (The Tiger), as he endeavors to publicize the figure of Abelardo de la Espriella, “for his decisive victory in the first round of the Colombian presidential elections”.

According to Trump, recognized for his immense intellectual capacity, “Abelard is an intelligent, strong and determined leader”, who “fights tirelessly for his great country and its people”. As president, he said, “I would have enormous success in leading Colombia toward economic growth, job creation, trade promotion, combating illegal immigration, repressing crime and drugs, and restoring law and order!” In an unprecedented way, he would be the first lawyer for drug traffickers who would fight his own business and prioritize his country and its people.

Trump: “honored to grant full and unrestricted support to Abelard”

In a crazy tone, the head of the White House warned that “Abelardo will face a radical left Marxist in the second round, on June 21st” and blackmailed everyone, remembering that “the results of this election are very important for the future of Colombia and for its relationship with the United States”. “Due to his enormous achievements in life and his personal political support (the millionaire is a historic collaborator of the Republican Party, Trump, as well as a US citizen), “it is an honor to grant Abelardo my full and unrestricted support”.

à la Bolsonaro, the Colombian puppet expressed emotional gratitude this Wednesday (3) for such a selfless demonstration, assuring that “we will join the Shield of the Americas” – a joint military and police coalition led by the United States to stop irregular migration, alleged “trafficking” and China’s influence on the continent.

“In you, I recognize a leader of unshakable resolve, who does not give in to ideological fads or enemies of freedom”, wrote De la Espriella – in Spanish and English, who has American nationality having lived in the country for 15 years. According to the puppet candidate, with Trump “we share the sacred defense of private property and free trade”.

“We defend freedom, we form a united front against communism that seeks to poison our republics and we will join the Shield of the Americas Alliance so that the star of freedom never goes out in this hemisphere”, he declared in a message accompanied by the image of a tiger next to an eagle, a symbol of imperialism.

Population disapproves of US meddling

On the streets of Bogotá, several people interviewed by the report strongly criticized “Trump’s meddling”, as they considered that “this is a role that does not belong to him, mainly due to the history of invasions and looting promoted by the northern country”. As Luis Carlos Florez Oliveira, an Ecopetrol worker, pointed out, “the United States is a foreign country that must respect the sovereignty of Colombia and others”. “What Trump wants is to invade countries to steal their oil and gold and we cannot allow that,” he said.

For hotel businesswoman Diana Patricia Rojas, “Trump is putting political pressure on the candidate that interests him most.” “Based on everything that is known about his past, Abelardo de la Espriella is not a guy who can be trusted. There is no reason for Trump to meddle in something that only concerns the Colombian people”, he pointed out.

“Sovereignty is part of our constitutional framework and needs to be respected. We defend alliances, but that have rules to improve people’s lives. What Trump did in Venezuela or the sanction adopted decades ago against Cuba makes it clear that they are not thinking about what is best for Colombia, but for their own companies”, warned José Luis Galiodo, an underground worker.

For Jhon Garrido Barros, a public health worker, “Trump’s meddling is permanent in almost every country in the world, because their economy is in bankruptcy and they are desperate.” “Colombia is a country rich in water, coal and biodiversity and with Iván Cepeda, just as it was with Petro, it will not admit interference in its sovereignty. Why doesn’t Trump go to Russia or China to question their electoral model? Because he knows that they are powers with the capacity for political, economic and military reaction”, he replied.

This coverage by the ComunicaSul Collaborative Communication Agency was only possible thanks to the support of the São Paulo Bank Workers Union; Writers’ Union of the State of São Paulo; newspaper Hora do Povo; Red; Global South Dialogues; Citizenship Mail; Baron of Itararé; councilor Werner Tempel (PCdoB) of Santa Maria-RS; Professor Azuaite, from São Carlos-SP; Instituto Angelim, and the Central Unitary Workers of Colombia, as well as several anonymous contributors.