Colombian President Gustavo Petro (right) next to Venezuelan Minister of Culture Ernesto Villegas (left) during the Venezuelan Book Festival 2023 (FILVEN) in Caracas on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Photo: Alba Ciudad.
During his participation in the Venezuelan International Book Fair (FILVEN) this Saturday, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, referred to the situation in Palestine and emphasized that “international law is dead.” He stated that “we are facing a genocide” that is supported by the great powers that, each day, highlights the importance of strengthening democracy on a global scale.
“The logic of capital consumes life,” he said. “You are seeing how international law is being destroyed, just like the accumulation of human civilization since the defeat of the Nazis is running out. You [Venezuelans] are victims of that. Someone decided to blockade you, someone who is not from here, and they decided to blockade other countries, and put presidents in prison, and put a price on their heads, and break the norms of international law.”
“A crazy man called Netanyahu is able to attract the alliance of the United States only because Israeli capital owns the US banks,” added President Petro.
The Colombian president recalled that “he had to pick up” the singer Roger Waters, founder of the band Pink Floyd, “because no hotel in Bogotá would allow him to sleep there. They decided to cancel him because he defends Palestine. Is that international law? Is that democracy? It is solidarity in reverse, because they do not want it to be said that they are doing the same thing that Hitler did with the Jewish people.”
“We are facing a genocide, and it is condoned by those who talk and talk every day about democracy,” President Petro added. “A total paradox. They label us and they don’t realize that they are killing many more people. Not just people, babies.”
Petro compared Netanyahu to Herod who, in the New Testament, is responsible for ordering the execution of children born in Bethlehem under two years of age. Similar events—Petro explained—have been taking place against the people of Palestine since last October, when the conflict in the Middle East intensified.
“I don’t know if Herod existed, but what we are seeing is a very powerful Herod, killing and killing children on earth,” said Petro. “That is not international law. International law is dead … What we are experiencing is war and barbarism. What we are experiencing is not temporary, it is not a simple madman throwing bombs, it is the law of the strongest.”
For this reason, he stated that the countries of Latin America must work together to build “a policy of life.”
Venezuela Rejects Israeli Entity’s Position Against Latin American Countries Opposing Genocide
“A politics of life is what becomes a revolutionary practice today,” President Petro said. “Today, we could be the base for the construction of a politics of life. It is not how one state is replaced by another, it is how we manage to bring humanity together to impose life on planet Earth. It is capital versus life.”
The Colombian head of state toured the FILVEN event, which concludes on Monday and features Colombia as its guest country. At FILVEN, a stand dedicated to Colombia showcases nearly 1,500 titles and an exhibition on the centenary of the work La Vorágine. During the festival, President Petro presented his book, One Life, Many Lives, published by the Planeta publishing house.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
