The sword of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, which the M-19 guerrillas stole as their first symbolic act and handed over when they demobilized, will not be present during the inauguration of the elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petrodue to “lack of will” and whim of the outgoing president Iván Duque.
“We are surprised by the capricious attitude and lack of will of President Duque in the face of the refusal to lend Bolívar’s sword to accompany the formal act of the transition of command of the elected president Gustavo Petro”, the communications coordinator of the act, Marisol Rojas, told Efe.
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the sword of Bolívarwho stole the guerrilla who Petro integrated in his youth, was one of the great symbols that the new president had during his act, as well as the “Dove of Peace”, created by Fernando Botero after the signing of the peace agreement with the FARC, with which can’t count either.
The official explained that for these two symbols to be in the ceremony “All the required procedures were carried out, they were discussed at the Ministry of Culture, at the National Museum and with the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino.”
Duque’s government demanded policies, which were fulfilled, but “yesterday (Saturday) late in the afternoon, President Duque gave the order that Bolívar’s sword does not come out.”
“It’s a whim, there is no will, he does not want to lend the sword”, Rojas insisted, remarking that “they also prevent the ‘Paloma de la Paz’, by maestro Fernando Botero, from entering the Casa de Nariño.”
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The “Dove of Peace” is a 70-centimeter-high sculpture made of bronze and painted white. It was in the Casa de Nariño for two years and in 2018 it was transferred to the National Museum, where it can be seen today.
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The initial idea was that Bolívar’s sword, guarded by a special group, would accompany the president-elect’s journey through some streets of Bogotá and then occupy a special place on the stage where the investiture will take place.
The historical relic was stolen in 1974 from the Quinta de Bolívar museumin the center of Bogotá, by the April 19 Movement (M-19), a guerrilla group that the elected president was part of in his youth, and was later returned.
For its part, the Comunes party, into which the former guerrilla group of the FARC After signing the peace agreement in 2016 with the Colombian government, he assured on social networks that not lending those symbols revealed what the “unpatriotic and warmongering” government of Duque was.
“Duque closes his presidency by refusing to provide the Sword of Bolívar and the Dove of Peace for the inauguration of the next government. Very telling (sic) of what his unpatriotic and warmongering government was”, he wrote that match on Twitter.
Commenting on the meaning that this historical object can have in his possession, Petro said a few days ago that the relic has meaning for the people: “The unsheathed sword, not as a symbol of war but, as its owner said when he unsheathed it, that It should only be sheathed when there is justice in Colombia.”
The sword is in the power of the State for some time now and, in fact, during the joint meeting that took place last month between Duque and Petro, right in the Casa de Nariño (seat of government), he was present.