Left-wing leaders show support for Petro through letter

Various intellectuals and leaders alienated from leftist thought from more than 35 countries have expressed their support for the President Gustavo Petro during a tense moment that the Government is going through.

This support was manifested in a letter signed by characters such as the Spanish jurist Baltasar Garzón, British Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, Argentine Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and former French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

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In this document, the signatories stated that the traditional powers “they have been organizing to restore an order marked by extreme inequality, environmental destruction and state-sponsored violence”.

In the same way, they pointed out, with proper names to the attorney Margarita Cabello, and the attorney general of the nation Francisco Barbosaof chasingactively to the representatives of the Historical Pact“.

“Less than a year after the Petro government inauguration, they are deploying the combined institutional power of the country’s regulators, media conglomerates and judiciary to stop their reforms, intimidate their supporters, oust their leaders and defame his image on the international scene“, it is stated in the letter, also signed by the former president Ernesto Samper Pizano, Ecuadorian Rafael Correa, Spanish José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and American activist Noam Chomsky.

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Margarita Cabello, Attorney General of the nation.

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Several congressmen aligned to the Historical Pact, a government coalition, are under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office. In this document it is mentioned Alex Flórez, Alexander López, David Racero, Susana Boreal and María José Pizarro; However, the document places special emphasis on the Senator Wilson Ariasto whom a process was opened for committing what in the letter was called an alleged “crime” of “speak out against police violence during the 2021 national protests“.

For the signatories, the actions of attorney Cabello constitute a “flagrant violation of the legal precedent established in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that prevents administrative bodies such as the Attorney General’s Office from removing elected officialsyes”.

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These investigations, as stated in the letter, “may result in the suspension, dismissal and disqualification of congressmen“, and they can make it difficult for the reform package that the government drew up in March to go ahead.

“The objective of this coordinated campaign is clear: to protect the interests of Colombia’s traditional powers against popular reforms that would increase wages, improve health, protect the environment and bring ‘total peace’ to the country.” is stated in the document.

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