Colombian President Gustavo Petro addressed thousands of pensioners and supporters gathered in Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá on Thursday to defend the pension reform and to emphasize that he has “the right to criticize” and not be silenced.
The president He thanked them for taking to the streets in ““defending the right to retire and enjoy a dignified old age” and compared the situation in Colombia with the protests in Argentina.
“In some, those in Buenos Aires, the elderly people go out into the streets, just like here in Colombia, but there they are being beaten with tear gas, they are being beaten with batons, they are being dragged through the streets (…) they are being treated as if they were pariahs. Here we are in another (…), in Colombia we are giving a bowl of soup, a hug, a hug from the Government.“.
Marches in support of Gustavo Petro
John DNA
In a speech lasting more than 45 minutes, Petro addressed multiple issues, but insisted on the pension reform, approved last June by Congress and sanctioned by himself, which currently benefits some 500,000 people.
This demonstration takes place as several Colombian congressmen opposed to the reform ask the Constitutional Court to review the law.
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“Humanity should see that instead of raising the retirement age, what we should already be discussing is how to reduce the retirement age.“, said Petro to applause, to emphasize that “Wealth is not in the length of the working day (…) it is in time” and criticized former President Álvaro Uribe’s slogan of “work, work, work.”
“That rubbish in our heads leads us to think that human life is about working, working and working. No way! What a huge mistake!“the president lamented.
Coup and assassination plot
Marches in support of Gustavo Petro
John DNA
Among the other issues addressed by the president was the alleged coup d’état that is being planned against him and the plan to assassinate him, and he lamented that “they want to erase the possibility of a progressive project existing in Colombia and winning elections and governing.”
In recent weeks, The Colombian president has lashed out at the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is administratively investigating his electoral campaign for possible irregularities in its financing.which is believed to be part of the plan to overthrow him, according to the president.
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After confirming last Saturday that he had received information from the United States about the plan to end his life, he stressed that this Thursday The US ambassador to Colombia, Francisco Palmieri, said, in the words of the president: “‘It is true that they want to kill Petro’,” and commented that “the same gringos are coming to defend us.”
Marches in support of Gustavo Petro
John DNA
“I don’t know if I can keep them from killing me. I have a very big angel, Saint Gabriel, who hasn’t let them kill me yet.“, but the plan to “overthrow him or kill him” depends on “an angel whose name I am going to change, his name is not Gabriel, his name is the Colombian people, and it depends on whether he goes out on the streets or not.”
Amid cries of “they will not pass,” he again criticized the “media of capital” and insisted that he is neither “paranoid” nor “crazy.”
“We have to act, this is the first mobilization,” Petro concluded, adding the anti-fascist slogan. “They shall not pass.”
EFE
