Gustavo Petro is received with honors during his visit to Spain and focuses his speech on the climate crisis

First modification: 05/04/2023 – 00:58Last modification: 05/04/2023 – 01:03

President Gustavo Petro and the first lady, Verónica Alcocer, arrived in the Spanish capital on May 2, from where they have carried out various official acts.

The last visit of this caliber was made in November 2021 by the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella.

The opposition’s rejection of Petro

The Colombian president was invited to the Spanish Congress of Deputies, from where he gave a speech, assuring that he would work for the “brotherhood” between the two countries and addressed the threats of the climate crisis and the challenges of the future of humanity.

During the intervention, he said that countries must “act together” and be open to change if they do not want “humanity to become extinct.” In addition, he stressed that they must reach agreements that do not remember the past.

The president of the Congress, Meritxell Batet, was in charge of welcoming President Petro and stressed the importance of “consolidating peace”.

But the visit was marked by a sit-in by the far-right Spanish party, Vox, whose members withdrew from the premises just before the Colombian president made his speech.

The party leader, Santiago Abascal, criticized the leftist Gustavo Petro for “insulting Spain”, referring to the words of the Colombian president a day before traveling to Madrid, who referred to the consequences of the “Spanish yoke” for Latin America.

“This is nothing more than a sample of the international policy of this government, always submissive to the enemies of freedoms, from China to Venezuela, passing through Cuba or Colombia,” said the president of Vox.

From Colombia, the opposition member María Fernanda Cabal celebrated the march of the Spanish deputies, after condemning President Petro for “denying Hispanic identity and the heritage of religion” and later meeting with King Felipe VI.

To which the president replied:

Before the arrival of the Colombian president in Congress, there was a demonstration of about twenty people rejecting his visit, which was called by Foro Madrid, an organization promoted by Vox.

The kings received the president and the first lady with honors

After Petro’s speech in Congress, the Kings of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, officially welcomed the Colombian delegation in the Patio de la Armería of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

A ceremony which was also attended by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and representatives of the main State institutions.

Petro and his wife arrived aboard a Rolls Royce Phantom IV and were escorted by 40 horses from the Royal Escort Squadron.

From there, King Felipe VI offered President Petro his support in the efforts to achieve peace in the South American country and assured that the relationship between the two countries is going through a very good moment.

“The priority that your Government gives to the policy of total peace, together with the commitment of our country to support this effort, mean that we are facing a particularly important moment to advance in the desire that all Colombians share: the silence of the arms” , underlined Felipe VI.

Since he came to power in August of last year, Petro has defended his “total peace” plan, which seeks to get the ELN guerrillas, FARC dissidents and other armed groups to renounce their weapons through dialogue.

At the end of the first day of the state visit to Spain, the king and queen offered a gala dinner to the president and the first lady of Colombia.

With EFE and local media.