Colombia: President Petro Denounces Right-Wing Plot Against Him

On Thursday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced that the right-wing opposition and big Spanish businessmen are planning ways to overthrow him.

RELATED:

Petro Reaffirms Commitment to Social Justice in Colombia

These statements were made during a meeting with the victims of the armed conflict and signatories of the Peace Accords in the municipality of Carmen de Bolivar, where Petro recalled that Colombian history records episodes that led to decades of violence.

Faced with the possibility that the Colombian extreme right seeks to structure a “soft coup,” Petro called on social groups that contributed to his victory in 2022 to remain vigilant.

“The farmers, the youth, the workers know what they have to do,” the Colombian president said during a ceremony in which he handed over land to rural families.

Petro urged conservative conspirators to abandon their strategy, reminding them of the political costs of historical events such as the bombing of farmer cooperatives and the assassination of presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan in 1948.

The Colombian president defended his agrarian reform program and stressed that the owners of unproductive large estates do not want to abide by the constitutional provisions establishing that the land must have a social function.

On previous occasions, Petro has also denounced the possibility of a "soft coup" against him orchestrated by right-wing businessmen, politicians and journalists.