During the presidential inauguration of Gustavo Petro and his vice-presidential formula, Francia Márquez, the president of the Congress of the Republic, Roy Barreras, He began his speech by enunciating some acts of violence that have marked the country and pointed out that: “in this land for the first time, a progressive government of the democratic left has arrived in Colombia.”
In his words, Barreras quoted the economist Mariana Mazzucatu and said that, although the State must be the engine of society, of the economy, first it has to “exist throughout the territory and exercise their power with legitimacy”.
The president of Congress called on the ELN guerrillas: “Gustavo Petro’s victory is evidence that political violence No has justification the way is peace and it is now“, and those who are dedicated to drug trafficking: “Stop killing, there will be no way to negotiate if they continue to assassinate social, military and police leaders.”
Likewise, he referred to the reforms that the incoming president will advance and that must go through the Congress of the Republic, which must guarantee both institutionality and change.
“The mandate of balance is an antinomy that seems impossible but is indispensable. Change is the opposite of stability, but half the country demands change and deserves it. And half another country wants stability, guarantees and balanceBarreras said.
And he added that these reforms must channel the popular desire “which does not imply destroying everything, but building on what has been built, but in some cases demolishing to rebuild new social foundations”.
The president of Congress also pointed out that it will be necessary guarantee the independence of Congress from the Executive “Because without independence there is no democracy.”
To close, Roy Barreras said that the time has come to fulfill a popular mandate, “to overcome this history of war and this culture of death. To tell the world that (…) Colombia is determined to become a world power of life”.
