The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and members of his cabinet celebrated Christmas this Tuesday with Bogotá street dwellerswith whom they shared a lunch and with whom he remembered that “every human being is important and vital for existence.”
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Being a street dweller “It is not a free decision of the person, but it is the product of a society that does not give opportunity, that puts human beings to compete as if they were horses put in a race, and then whoever loses (… ) has to stay in the mud because he is a loser without opportunities”lamented Petro in the Plaza de Armas of the Casa de Nariño, presidential headquarters.
The president called to strengthen rights restitution programs to street dwellers, since “Being a street dweller does not take away the citizen rights that you already have just because you were born in Colombia.” For this reason, he asked the Ministry of Equality -led by the vice president, Francia Márquez- to “Since January 1st there has been an avalanche of services to the street residents of Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, and a strengthening of the programs that are already installed in Bogotá.”
“In the mud is precisely (…) where hope grows; hope is not a passive state, it is not waiting for a miracle with the Father’s forgiveness, still, hope is an immediate action, we must act to get out towards forward, to transform things”said.
(Read more: What are the Government programs that would be affected in 2025?)
Presidential lunch for homeless people
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At the Christmas event, commemorative plaques were also given to four street residents who “Thanks to their effort, resilience and institutional support they have transformed their lives,” among them Fredy Ruiz Cardona for his fashion design project and Johana Andea Céspedes, the Colombian Presidency reported in a statement.
“I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Next year is going to be a year of struggles, it is going to be the year of the Colombian people, it is going to be the year of Colombian democracy, where we decide if we return to the past or definitively leave. “We dare to raise the flag of freedom, democracy and equality of human beings in Colombia.”concluded the president.
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EFE
