A burlesque comment from the future Minister of Agriculture, Cecilia López, showed a hostile environment between her and the tycoon Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, one of the richest and most powerful businessmen in Colombia.
Rather than start a fight, what López did was join a series of netizens who criticized a comment by the businessman against the government of Gustavo Petro.
Days before, the tycoon – who owns Grupo Aval and other companies – referred to some of Cecilia López’s proposals, criticizing what she intends to do with the country.
“First of all, acquired rights are respected. Here there is no story that we are going to change all this and we are going to expropriate the whole world, no sir,” said Angulo, next to President Iván Duque, during a government event.
The comment cost Sarmiento Angulo dozens of accusations, since his critics accused him of “believing himself the owner of the country”, but there were also other powerful businessmen, such as Mario Hernández, who joined that opinion and defended the tycoon.
Until now, neither Petro nor López, directly involved in that comment, had spoken about it. However, the new Minister of Agriculture showed his stance with a subtle comment released through his official Twitter account.
The message came as a response to a tweet written by the columnist Carolina Sanín: “That old Sarmiento dares to talk to me like that, or to talk like that in front of me, so that he can see how I make him swallow soap,” wrote Sanín, who It is quite popular in said social network due to its satirical and burlesque tone.
In response, López wrote that she was willing to collaborate with Sanín for that purpose. “I will help you”, Lopez trilled.
But the mess did not end there. That single tweet generated the sympathy of many and the claim of seriousness of others. “The new Minister of Agriculture is quite serious and professional,” claimed one of the citizens.
Cecilia Lopéz is one of the permanent appointments that President Petro has announced. Since last week it has been known that will lead the Agriculture portfolio, one of the most difficult to carry out during this new government due to the ambitious changes it proposes.
Another pull to Sarmiento Angle
In response to López’s first comment, several citizens told him that what the tycoon is proposing is the “preparation of a Great National Plan for the Development of the Eastern Plains of Colombia, taking advantage of the construction of the highway from Bogotá to Villavicencio”.
To which the minister replied: “The development plans of this country are the exclusive competence of the President of the Republic, not of a businessman (…) we agree on workable ideas, dialogue, peace, projects and achievements. What I do not agree with is that a businessman publicly present “his” National Development Plan above the competence of the president, whoever he is.”
For now, Sarmiento Angulo has already lowered the tone of his criticism. On this Saturday morning, the businessman said he had been misunderstood and that his idea was only to “contribute” so that the country does well.
“In public and in private I have stated my compliance and acceptance of the electoral triumph of Gustavo Petro in a democratic election. This proposal cannot be considered, in any way, as an act of opposition to his government but rather as a selfless contribution to its success”, he said.
In any case, the comments generate tension because, whatever reform López proposes, it must be discussed with Angulo and the other businessmen, who are a key factor for the functioning of the country.