Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in the history of Colombia, referred to the fact that in Nicaragua there is an authoritarian drift that has translated into a climate of “repression against opponents and political prisoners,” during an interview with CAMBIO magazine, I guess that he will maintain a policy of distancing himself from the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
Petro, 62 years old, reached last Sunday, June 19, the definitive victory in the second electoral round of Colombia by prevail over the independent populist Rodolfo Hernández.
In his first interview as president-elect with Revista CAMBIO, Petro was asked about the weight of democracy in sustaining peace in Colombia, and it was in this response that he himself brought the subject of Nicaragua to the discussion.
What you are saying is that if there is no democratic valve to process that disagreement, we are going to go towards violence?, Petro was asked.
“Explodes. We’re looking at Ecuador, I can’t get too much into that anymore, but it’s an explosion there again. We saw it in Chile. Chile is processing this in a peaceful and democratic way, we have to see what happens next. In some of these processes anomalies have emerged trying to take them to the past. So, repressions on opponents, political prisoners. Nicaragua, for example. Those who are imprisoned in Nicaragua, and here I am once again wearing an 11-vara shirt, are the ones who made the revolution against Somoza“, answered.
CHANGE: “And that they were comrades-in-arms of Ortega, who is now persecuting them”…
“And that they were our friends and are in prison. And because? Well, because there are some drifts that are no longer properly towards democracy and that must be avoided.”, added the Colombian president-elect.
It is not the first time that the now elected president has referred to the issue of Nicaragua. When he was a candidate, shortly after the electoral farce of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega and Murillo were re-elected as president and vice president of Nicaragua with their rivals in prison or in exile, Petro affirmed that “that is not democracy.” .
On the day of his election, various opposition organizations in Nicaragua sent a letter to Petro in which they detailed their criticisms of the regime and called on him “to continue with his critical position towards the dictatorship” of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
In a press release, organizations listed a number of statements critical of Petro on the Nicaraguan situation: “When a candidate, who is at the same time president…puts his opponents in prison and persecutes his opponents and ‘chuza’ them (wounds or injures), well that’s not democracy. I would not recognize them (the elections in Nicaragua)”, said the then Colombian presidential candidate, on November 10, 2021.
Later, on November 23, 2021, he expanded his views: “Daniel Ortega has imprisoned hundreds of political leaders. Ortega has transformed a libertarian dream into a banana dictatorship.”
Opposition organizations, including the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, groups of political prisoners, exiles, victims of armed attacks, among others, said they trust that Petro, “from his position as president of Colombia, will continue with their efforts in favor of democracy and human rights in Nicaragua”.
Daniel Ortega sent congratulations to Petro after his electoral victory was ratified: “With all due respect and affection to his people, we salute his electoral victory today, June 19,” wrote the Nicaraguan ruler—who has described Colombia as be a narco-state.
“That in our Caribbean America we continue to strengthen a history as our people expect and deserve,” said Ortega, in his letter to the president-elect of Colombia, which was also signed by his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
