The Florida Democratic Party expressed concern on Monday about the election of leftist Gustavo Petro as the new president of Colombia, noting that he has been “aligned in the past” with the policies of Cuba and Venezuela.
For Manny Díaz, president of the Florida Democratic Party, both the Castros in Cuba, as well as President Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, “have brought so much pain and suffering to Cubans and Venezuelans.”
The formation congratulated the democratic day that Colombia experienced yesterday Sunday in the second electoral round, but was concerned about Petro, the first leftist to win the presidency of Colombia.
“My most sincere hope is that Petro respects the Colombian Constitution and protects private property, freedom of the press and private industry that has brought so much prosperity to Colombia in recent decades,” Diaz, of Cuban origin, said in a statement.
With around one million Colombian immigrants, Florida is the state with the largest population of these nationals in the United States.
Maduro congratulated the elected president of Colombia on Sunday and assured that “new times are in sight for this brother country.”
Petro, candidate of the Historical Pact coalition, obtained 11,279,917 votes (50.44%) in the second electoral round against his rival, the independent populist Rodolfo Hernández, of the Anti-Corruption Governors League, who reached 10,576,617 votes ( 47.31%).
Petro, a 62-year-old economist and former member of the M19 guerrilla group, will succeed, as of August 7, the president of Colombia, the uribista Iván Duque, and will govern in the period 2022-2026.
