Elections in Colombia: Opponents And Local Candidates Meet To Reject Petro Government
Opponents and local candidates gathered this week in Bogotá in rejection of Petro Government, which also carried out, this week, an act of public forgiveness for the so-called "false positives" .
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EFE
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Leer en español: Elecciones en Colombia: Opositores y candidatos locales se reúnen en rechazo a Gobierno Petro
Opposition leaders and candidates for Mayor of Bogotá in the October 29 elections met this week in the Colombian capital to participate in a "torchthon" in which, precisely with torches and candles, they protested against the Government of President Gustavo Petro.
María Fernanda Cabal, leader of the opposition party Centro Democrático, and mayoral candidates Diego Molano, former Minister of Defense, and retired General Jorge Luis Vargas, former director of the National Police, led the rally to which former President Álvaro Uribe was also expected to attend, but who finally did not participate.
The opposition call invited citizens to "pay tribute to the Public Force and the soldiers who fell in combat with torches and lanterns at the 'Heroes forever' monument" located in the northern sector of the city.
"At this moment thousands of torches are lit in protest against the disastrous government of Gustavo Petro," Molano said on his social networks, words that he accompanied with images of the concentration, which was not very large.
The candidate for the Bogotá Council for the Democratic Center Julián Uscátegui told EFE that he regretted that "the criminals are in power and the heroes are increasingly humiliated," in reference to the uniformed members of the public force.
According to the politician, the Petro Government has taken away guarantees and stigmatizes the military and police.
Read also: Colombia: This Is The Electoral Panorama In The Main Departmental Capitals
A Government that asks for forgiveness
Precisely this Wednesday the Government led an act of public forgiveness for the so-called "false positives", executions of civilians perpetrated by members of the Army who then presented the victims as guerrillas killed in combat to receive rewards or benefits.
According to the Special Justice for Peace (JEP), there were 6,402 "false positives" committed mostly between 2002 and 2008.
The Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, together with the senior commanders of the Army, publicly apologized for "the cases of extrajudicial executions of which young residents of the city of Bogotá and the municipality of Soacha were victims."
