In the most recent Council of Ministers held on Tuesday, August 19, President Gustavo Petro presented the security figures in the country, and, as is usual, he touched other various issues, among which the case of former president Álvaro Uribe, Palestine, among others, highlighted.
President Gustavo Petro – Council of Ministers
Presidency
The president said that the crime has nothing to do with the punishment“is that the judicial system is not related to revenge“
The president of equated what happened in World War II, with the situation that Colombia lives in terms of security, because he assured that there is hatred towards different populations such as Jews, for example.
See more: See the Council of Ministers on August 19
Also, speaking in cybersecurity, he said that “Peruvians hacked us to our soul, because there is no cyberdefense. The software must be ours, not internationally bought, such as Pegasus, from Israel. What is Pegasus? Mathematics to spy on citizens […] When power enters the citizen’s bed … Goodbye to freedom! That is why I do not agree with (Gabriel) Boric, you cannot afford that privacy is crossed by the power of the powerful“
See more: Superior Court of Bogotá orders freedom by former president Álvaro Uribe
Even in the midst of his speech the president referred to the ruling of the Superior Court of Bogotá, in which the immediate freedom of the former president of Álvaro Uribe was orderedwhich was convicted by Judge Sandra Heredia in the first instance. In fact, he questioned that how it was possible for former President Uribe to be free and EPA (Colombia) dam.
“Uribe for trying to deceive, because he got there to the theme of the witnesses against (Iván) Cepeda and for throwing himself into Cepeda he threw himself and now he blames us for his mistake, “ Petro pointed out.
See more: Iván Cepeda says that he will proceed ‘to the relevant’, after a failure that gives freedom to Uribe
Also, in the midst of his speech, the president referred to the amount of homicides that are occurring in Bogotá and He argued that in the administration of Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán, this figure is increasing exponentially. He also said that the mayor is not taking into account that El Dorado International Airport is a port where cocaine traffic moves.
About the fiscal hole
The president referred to Fiscal deficit that they have the country’s finances, and pointed out that this “It is the payment of the budget to the gentlemen who use gasoline, not allowing the price of gasoline to the international price level to be raised in times of Covid and the Ukraine War. That silver has to be returned, minister, if the Congress is not able to put taxes on the rich of the richest in Colombia, The silver of gasoline subsidy is returned and we solve the fiscal deficit, As they did with electric power users“But he said that Energy users “It is the entire population while gasoline users are only 15%“
See more: Budget 2026: How much will the government for works of trains and tertiary roads
He also said that the reactivation of the economy occurs thanks to the deficit, and that His government will be responsible, so they will pay the fiscal deficit, he said.
On the other hand, he presented the figures of ‘insecurity’ in the country, and it was also emphatic that it is not in favor of civil society having weapons, because that monopoly owes only to the military forces.
Among the data presented that in 2024 13,496 homicides were registered, with a rate of 26 per 100,000 inhabitants; A smaller number than those reported in 2023, where the figure was 13,555.
Analyzing the figures per cities, the city that registered a significant decline was Montería (Córdoba), which went from 62 homicides to 23, from the beginning of the year to August 18, comparing the data of 2024 with the 2025; on the other hand, where there was a remarkable increase in San José (Guaviare), where homicides increased from 6 to 21 in the same period.
Historic Homicide in Colombia
Colombia Presidency
Safety figures
SIEDCO
Meanwhile, after 11:30 pm, the president said that The country requires electric vehiclesand not those that are currently sold, which move to gasoline.
Likewise, he insisted on his strong criticism of the sale of Colombian coal to Israel, who is at War in Gaza, and said he will not be an accomplice of a genocide.
Valentina Delgadillo Abello
Portfolio journalist
