The presentation that accused Gustavo Petro’s campaign to exceed spending limits by more than $5.3 billion (US$1.27 million) and to receive contributions from legal entities (two things prohibited by the electoral law) was approved by the CNE on the afternoon of this Tuesday, October 8.
The decision allows Petro, as a presidential candidate, to be investigated for alleged violation of campaign limits during the 2022 election days, when the current president was carrying out activities of the ‘Gustavo Petro president 2022-2026’ campaign.
(Read: ‘The coup d’état has begun’: Petro on the indictment of charges by the CNE)
Others Accused for the same reason in the same sentence are Ricardo Roa Barragán (current president of Ecopetrol and campaign manager of President Petro in 2022), Lucy Aidee Mogollón Alfonso as treasurer of the campaign; and María Lucy Soto Caro and Juan Carlos Lemus Gómez, campaign auditors. Also to the parties Political Movement Colombia Humana and Unión Patriótica.
(Read: CNE opens formal investigation against Petro for financing his presidential campaign)
Faced with the accusations, Gustavo Petro assured in X that an alleged coup d’état had begun. Minutes later, I declare that: “All popular organizations in the country must enter into a permanent assembly. The time for widespread mobilization of the Colombian people has arrived. The constitutional president of Colombia elected by popular vote orders the public forces not to raise a single weapon against the people. “I ask the diplomatic corps for a full meeting to explain to the world why what the CNE has done by majority is a blow against the president’s comprehensive immunity and against the popular vote and the law.”
All popular organizations in the country must enter into a permanent assembly. The time for widespread mobilization of the Colombian people has arrived.
The constitutional president of Colombia elected by popular vote orders the public forces not to raise a single weapon…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 8, 2024
Petro’s call was heeded and accepted by the National Unitary Command made up of the CUT, CGT labor confederations and the two confederations of pensioners CPC and CDP, who declared themselves in a “state of alert” and assured that: “The decision of the National Electoral Council to investigate the president of the republic is a flagrant violation of the constitution and the law, it is a breakdown of the institutional life of the country and for this reason, it is part of the integral plot of a coup d’état against the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro. The decision to investigate the president is the exclusive responsibility of the Accusations Commission of the House of Representatives.”
(Read: The scenarios for Ricardo Roa after approval of the formulation of charges from the CNE)
CUT joins the strike called by Fecode against amendments to the Statutory Education Law.
Mauricio Moreno/ Portfolio
(Read: The figures that do not add up and for which they opened an investigation into Petro’s campaign)
Although there is still no date for mobilizations, the labor confederations and the National Government assure that the CNE decision violates the rights of the workers. “11.3 million Colombians who voted for President Gustavo Petro, who represent the popular will”.
PORTFOLIO
