Political reactions to Petro’s request for the resignation of Ricardo Bonilla

President Gustavo Petro shook public opinion this Wednesday, December 4, by asking, through a message on his X account, the resignation of the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla.

The request was made hours after it was learned that Bonilla filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office, in a case that involves the president of Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa, and the son of the First Lady, Nicolás Alcocer.

Furthermore, it occurs months after Bonilla himself, allegedly, appeared linked to the corruption scandal of the Risk and Disaster Management Unit (UGRD).

“I hope for his resignation, not because I believe he is guilty, but because they want to tear him to pieces for being loyal to the government program and they want to unconstitutionally overthrow that government, because I want him to be an economist like Varoufakis and not like Tsipras, because I am not going to allow the people are cornered with extortion, and because I will use the constitution if the congress lets itself be carried away by those who extort and seek an unconstitutional coup, because my duty is to help the people who work and “Study, and not kneel before those who serve the most powerful interests of greed and insensitivity towards the humble. I hope for your resignation because now you must dedicate yourself to their defense without stain of using power in their defense.”Petro wrote about Bonilla.

In this regard, Several figures in Colombian politics have reacted to this surprising request from the President towards one of his most faithful officials.who was also Secretary of the Treasury in the Bogotá Mayor’s Office, when Petro was mayor.

One of them was Senator María Fernanda Cabal, who wrote: “Petro, do not look for those responsible outside your disastrous government, nor do you play the victim of what you yourselves are doing to the country. You removed Bonilla because it is unsustainable and because of the complaint against your stepson and against Ricardo Roa.
“Corruption is the hallmark of his mandate.”.

Along the same lines, Bogotá councilor Daniel Briceño wrote that “Petro kept Ricardo Bonilla in his position despite being mentioned for months in the UGRD corruption scandal, but asked him to resign the same day that Bonilla sent a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office in which the President’s son was mentioned. “.

For his part, the representative to the Chamber Juan Carlos Lozada stated that it is “The crossfire between Minister Bonilla and President Gustavo Petro is shameful, and in the coming weeks we will have to see what happens. Of course Ricardo Bonilla must resign, but it is also very serious for a President to hand over his Minister, almost blaming him for the crime of which he is accused and that a minister, who in retaliation, sues the son of the President of the Republic himself. Rags are being aired in the sun like never before in our history. We now have nothing left to do but hope for justice. act with speed. What is at stake is not only the future of a minister, but that of a country that cries out for transparency and is fed up with corruption.”.

PORTFOLIO