Petro, a drunk who maneuvers politically

By: Luis Gonzales Posada - 07/03/2025

Two years ago, I argued that Colombian President Gustavo Petro systematically offended our country and interfered in national affairs, violating the principle of non-intervention in matters of internal competence, a fundamental rule that regulates diplomatic relations between States and is enshrined in the Charter of the OAS and the United Nations.

At that time, Petro declared that Castillo had been removed from office by a "parliamentary coup" and that he was imprisoned without a court order or legal assistance because he was a "poor person from the mountains."

Furthermore, this aggressive and mendacious defense of Castillo escalated into insult when the former guerrilla compared the actions of our National Police to Nazi brigades, an unfortunate statement for which Congress declared him persona non grata.

Yesterday, however, Petro continued his attacks, writing a tweet stating that the trial of the former Chotano president for the failed coup d'état is due to the fact that he is "a poor leftist person," adding the nonsense that the judicial process being carried out for this crime constitutes "an insult to the American Convention on Human Rights, to democracy and to the popular will that elected him president." These deplorable expressions have deserved the firm rejection of the Foreign Ministry and constitute yet another incident in the 200 years of diplomatic relations with Colombia, instituted on June 6, 1822, with the gratitude of the Peruvian people for the valuable participation of Colombian troops in the historic battles of Junín and Ayacucho. In addition, we share 1,626 kilometers of common border, an area considered complex and dangerous because there are thousands of hectares planted with coca leaves and also cocaine laboratories. In Colombia, in the department of Putumayo, crops increased 1.8 times and in Loreto, Peru, 1.5 times between 2018 and 2022, according to a report presented by DEVIDA.

There is also smuggling, especially of medicines in all their forms, wood, clothing, fabrics, silk, cotton and wool products, and in various places in our territory the remnants of the FARC and FLN guerrillas rest and equip themselves.

The purpose of this bilateral relationship is the trade balance because we import 1.2 billion dollars annually from Colombia and export 800 million dollars to the neighboring country, to which we must add that Colombian investments in Peru exceed 22 billion dollars, mainly in agro-industry, energy and services.

Furthermore, we are part of the Pacific Alliance, the Andean Community of Nations and the ailing Forum for the Progress of South America, a fruitful link that has been strengthened by the six meetings held between heads of state and binational cabinets with the aim of broadening the spaces for bilateral integration and strengthening support for border populations.

Following this new incident, it is opportune for the Peruvian government, through the Foreign Ministry, to denounce Petro's false and defamatory statements to other countries in the hemisphere and to the Organization of American States (OAS), in order to expose his moral character and his verbal excesses, surely the result of excessive alcohol consumption, if not of narcotics, as his own compatriots claim.

In this context, the radical left is relying on the political support of Petro and the Mexican López Obrador, now supported by President Claudia Shimbaum, with the aim of destabilizing our country and promoting radical movements, in circumstances where the institutions that support the constitutional rule of law - the Public Ministry, the Judiciary, Parliament and the Executive - are discredited.

There could certainly be a shake-up just a few months before the general elections, remembering that the echoes of the vandalism of November 2020 have not yet dissipated. It is not surprising, therefore, that Petro's lies have the higher objective of playing into the hands of sectors of the extreme left so that they can advance politically.

In other words, it is not just a question of the excesses of a drunkard but of a political strategy.

Let us remember that Petro has two very important international bases to spread his messages and politically influence the continent: the São Paulo Forum and the Puebla group, while the democratic sectors lack political institutions. Moreover, this leftist machinery is very well oiled with the abundant money provided by Maduro.

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