Duque strongly criticized some proposals that Petro has made, such as the different use of resources from private pension funds.
President Iván Duque, without skimping on adjectives and without mentioning him directly, came out this Thursday to speak harshly against presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, his toughest opponent in the 4-year term that ends on August 7.
Indeed, albeit tacitly, Duque strongly criticized some proposals made by Petroa leftist candidate for the Historical Pact, such as the one in which he referred to a possible different use of resources that are in private pension funds.
Citing a book by the writer Moisés Naím, the Head of State assured that in his text he “speaks of the autocrats three ps, who are governed by three words that begin with p, as many other things begin: post-truth, which is to start sowing society negativism, distrust, doubt, delegitimization.
And he added: “Don’t believe, there are three p autocrats of all kinds and everywhere, in national and regional governments, who want to delegitimize the things that have been built (…). They also want to use fallacies to generate ardent and resentment.
These words by Duque were given in Medellín, during the Proantioquia assembly, an event that he took advantage of to launch criticism without mentioning a direct recipient of the same to avoid falling into improper participation in politics.
Of course, in the midst of the electoral debate that Colombia is facing, the President pointed out that “the autocrats” to whom he refers “use populism, which is to start telling people that the businessman should be called rich and ruthless, and the worker his victim. No, that idea in Colombia has not provided, and less in Antioquia, because there has always been brotherhood between employers and employees”.
In fact, it was at this point that he addressed Petro’s controversial proposal on the pension issue, and he did so from a region that is well known to have a majority of right-wing voters, as was evidenced after last Sunday’s legislative elections.
“They dare to tell people that they are going to take away the savings of a lifetime in a pension fund to turn it into predatory money to be able to ride in aspirations and handouts. They seek to antagonize, fracture (…) And they are born, grow, feed on violence, and then they become the great preachers of peace and humanism”, emphasized Duque.
In addition, he assured that those people to whom he refers without giving a specific name “seek to generate mafias and build their governability with clique agreements and bureaucratic distribution or distribution of public money.”
For this reason, Duque took advantage of the public of Proantioquia, a business community that on some occasions has also criticized various positions of Petro, to send a message that he considered key and more so when the country is getting ready for the first presidential round on May 29.
“There can never be feelings of doubt to defeat those autocrats,” Duque emphasized.