This August 7th marked two years of the government of President Gustavo Petro Urregoa period in which the establishment of ambitious social projects such as the reform of the general pension system, as well as various charity programs for the vulnerable population; but that has been left on other fronts, such as the budget execution, the energy transition or the consolidation of a solid government team.
In contrast to the first, one of the facts that the president has highlighted the most has been having lifted more than 1,600,000 people out of povertyaccording to its own figures. However, this has not saved it from criticism from various quarters.
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And one of the most critical voices of his administration from the private sector has been the President of the National Federation of Merchants (Fenalco), Jaime Alberto Cabalwho recently stated that Petro’s two years in office have been summed up in “scandals“, “setbacks” and “disarray“.
Jaime Alberto Cabal, president of Fenalco
“We believe that the balance of these first two years of the Petro government has not been positive; on the contrary, we see a general deterioration and decline. As for the economy, the poor performance that is taking place makes it the worst since the pandemic.“, Cabal said.
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In response, the head of state said on his X account: “These kinds of people will never understand why moving forward means getting 1,600,000 people out of poverty.“.
President, stop dividing us. Stop promoting the narrative of class struggle.
Here we are all Colombians, the vast majority of us are hard-working people, who create jobs and pay taxes so that the country and our people can move forward. We are all Colombians… https://t.co/T6YgHt5SSB
— Jaime Alberto Cabal (@JaimeA_Cabal) August 7, 2024
However, the union leader replied to the president on the same social network, asking him to “Do not promote the class struggle narrative any longer“.
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“Here we are all Colombians, the vast majority of us hard-working people, who create jobs and pay taxes so that the country and our people can move forward. We are all Colombians who ask that our taxes not be squandered on corruption, that property and freedom of enterprise be respected, and that hate speech cease. Where is your promise to work on a great national agreement?“, Cabal said.
PORTFOLIO
