Petro rejected the CRC’s decision to deny a request for a presidential address

President Gustavo Petro spoke out against the rejection of the Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) to make a new presidential address on the public television service. According to the president, this determination is an act of censorship.

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“The president of the Republic of Colombia has been censured in his own country. I invite all national and international jurists who want to accompany me to break the censorship in Colombia,” indicated the president in his X account.

The head of state also classified the decision as a “attempt by the mafias to regain power”, despite the arguments presented by the regulatory body.

In addition, he mentioned that if he could not speak through that medium, he would have to address the country publicly. “If the president cannot speak on television, then he will have to do so from the public square,” stood out.

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According to the CRC, the request for an address presented by the Casa de Nariño met the criteria of personal nature of the presidential intervention, non-recurrence and temporal limitation, but did not comply with the other established parameters. So, approval could not be given for its completion.

“It does not meet the criteria of urgency, exceptional use or thematic delimitation, as there is no evidence of a serious, supervening or unavoidable circumstance that justifies the interruption of the programming of the country’s open television channels”explained the Commission.

The entity also stated that The measure does not seek to limit the freedom of expression of the President of the Republic nor his power to address the country. On the contrary, it responds to the judicial mandate that orders the application of objective criteria “to guarantee the reasonable, proportional and exceptional use of the public television service.”

In this sense, it was pointed out that the request may be adjusted according to established guidelines and sent again for verification.

It is worth remembering that days ago the CRC issued the circular that defines the conditions to be followed in order to carry out this type of television broadcasts. The criteria that the Presidency must follow for the use of public and private television channels were defined in compliance with a ruling by the Council of State.

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