Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Photo: EFE/File photo.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro condemned the Attorney General Office’s investigation of him as unconstitutional and a “serious rupture of the institutional order.”
Petro noted that the Colombian Attorney General’s Office has opted for disruption of institutional order to remove him from the presidency.
“They have decided to break the institutional order. As the president of the republic, I must warn the world of the mafia that has taken over the Attorney General’s Office, and I must ask the people for maximum mobilization,” the Colombian president wrote on social media.
He stressed that the judiciary cannot investigate a president “because legally a workers’ union contributed to a left-wing party [campaign].”
Gustavo Petro referred to the investigation carried out by the Attorney General’s Office for the alleged contribution of 500 million Colombian pesos (about $127,000) made by the Colombian Federation of Education Workers (FECODE) to Petro’s presidential campaign in 2022.
Le solicito a todas las organizaciones de derechos humanos, partidos progresistas y organizaciones de trabajadores de Colombia y del mundo prestar atención a esta denuncia:
He escuchado a juristas destacados hablando de ruptura institucional en el caso del canciller de la…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) February 2, 2024
Petro explained that contributions made by a teachers’ union to a political party cannot be equated with contributions to political campaigns by drug traffickers like El Ñeñe.
“They consider the contribution by alias ‘el Ñeñe’ as legal; they consider the contribution of the teachers’ union as illegal because we are progressive,” Petro said.
Former President Iván Duque was accused of receiving funds from the deceased drug trafficker José Guillermo Hernández, alias “El Ñeñe,” for his presidential campaign. However, the Colombian judiciary closed that case known as “Ñeñepolitics.”
“Unions have been raided; witnesses have been tortured and pressured to accuse the president, and they have not been successful,” Petro added. “Drug traffickers, perpetrators of crimes against humanity, corrupt politicians, and corrupt sectors of the Attorney General’s Office are desperately trying to remove the president elected by the people.”
Argentina’s Congress Approves Milei’s Omnibus Law Amid Police Repression
The Colombian president stressed that the institutions are being used to create “the attorney general’s great masterpiece.”
“The Attorney General’s Office will ask for my impeachment without hiding that it has carried out an unconstitutional investigation against me, looking for the victory that the people did not grant them [the opposition],” he warned.
In this scenario, Gustavo Petro called on all human rights organizations, progressive parties, and workers’ movements in Colombia and the world to be attentive and join the grassroots response initiative.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
