Interview Iván Duque: "In Colombia there are politicians who want to capitalize on chaos and ride hatred"
Colombia Attack against the helicopter in which President Iván Duque was traveling with two of his ministers
The Colombian president stars in a meeting with EL MUNDO in which he warns against populism, assuring that "policies of hatred, post-truth and lies are the recipe for the failure of a country" and putting Chavismo as an example "of the flavor that that has. recipe".
Question.-
In the last interview we published in EL MUNDO with you last June, you gave us this headline: "In Colombia there are politicians who want to capitalize on chaos and ride hatred."
Those were the moments of the blockade, the mobilizations and the riots.
Today, the leftist candidate Gustavo Petro leads some of the polls for next year's presidential elections.
What consequences would it have for Colombia and the entire political continent if the country fell into the hands of populism?
Answer.-
I would separate that question in two. The first part is that we are experiencing in the world in general a lot of polarization and political tensions and many times we see politicians who want to catapult their aspirations into destruction, chaos and failure. The second is that we are still at a quite premature moment to make electoral cabals. I am not going to talk about a particular candidate, but about a way of doing politics: politics that is based on hatred, post-truth, lies, on trying to divide the private sector from the workers ... That is the recipe for failure, and whoever wants to know the flavor of that recipe only has to look at Venezuela. We know that all those who have been classrooms of 21st century socialism can produce great disasters. For now, I am focused on getting our economy forward, let it grow;We are taking the most ambitious social agenda of this century with free university tuition, we are advancing in employment programs for young people ... Hence, I do not stop to make electoral speculations, but I am clear that the politics of hatred does not It is the alternative for Colombia.
Q.-
Colombia faces one of the most important humanitarian exoduses on the planet due to its proximity to Venezuela. At what stage are relations with Venezuela? Do you feel that Spain and the international community have sufficient support for your country?
A.-
The relations between Colombia and the Venezuelan people are fraternal, they are solidarity, and the greatest demonstration of this is that our country has welcomed 1.8 million emigrants and we also open a temporary protection status. We already have 1.4 million migrants who have registered with biometric recognition. This is historical from the point of view of migration policy in Latin America. It is a very clear show of solidarity and attention. Regarding relations with the democratic resistance, the National Assembly and the interim government, we too have been allies, as have 50 other nations. We have done it by seeking the construction of democracy.
Regarding the relationship with the dictatorship, there is none, because we have also denounced it to the International Criminal Court. And I want to raise this simile: if you are living in an apartment and the neighbor next door beats your wife and children every night and you hear the screams, the pain, the abuse, the last thing you can do is greet the next day to the neighbor as if nothing was happening. This behavior must be denounced and we did it in the International Criminal Court, while, additionally, we have worked with other countries to bring about a greening of democracy in Venezuela. And that allows me to say clearly: that there are conversations in Mexico between the interim government and the dictatorship seems to me to be fine,But what has to be clear is that the objective to be achieved must be to have free presidential elections quickly and with strict international supervision so that the Venezuelan people can put an end to a dictatorship that today is the worst we have seen in recent years. in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Q.-
What is your opinion on the political support of Spain for the end of Chavismo?
R.-
Spain has been a nation of solidarity.
I have always had the opportunity to approach the authorities of the kingdom of Spain on various fronts.
In the care of migrants as a governor, I have felt accompanied by King Felipe, by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, by the Foreign Ministry, by the ministries, by the cooperation agencies.
I believe that what has to unite those of us who defend democracy and the institutions is to exert all the international pressure necessary to end the horrible night of the dictatorship in Venezuela and to build a path of agreements based on a transparent, effective democracy. and obviously with elections that have the highest international supervision.
Any solution that perpetuates the dictatorship will only bring more migratory crises, more social crisis and something that has also been dark, and that is that the dictatorial regime of Venezuela protects terrorist groups in its territory that have done a lot of damage to countries like the ours and are part of international terrorism networks.
Q.-
This month of August was the fifth anniversary of the Peace Accords reached by President Santos. You, at the time, were very critical of those agreements. I want to ask you about the balance. It is true that the FARC has dissolved and it is also true that some terrorist dissidents remain active (you yourself suffered an attack attempt), there is violence linked to coca crops and the country is deeply divided by impunity for some of those groups. What is your assessment of the result of those peace accords, and above all, how do you face this new reality of violence and drug trafficking?
A.-
There are realities that are undeniable and the first is that five years ago there was an agreement with a group that was the FARC, but in Colombia we still had ELN, caparros, pelusos, puntilleros, groups also associated with drug trafficking. Of the FARC, there is a very important group of members who have entered into a process of reincorporation to the legality and dissident groups have also appeared, many of them protected in Venezuelan territory and others operating drug trafficking activities in the country and we are confronting them with all the determination.
What do I want to highlight? That in the important things of that agreement on reincorporation, our Government has not only been advancing, but also advancing with its own interpretation endorsed by the Constitutional Court, which is the Agenda for Peace with Legality. Just three days ago, the Ombudsman in Colombia published a report saying: "More has been done for the implementation in the last 36 months than in the first 20 months of development of the agreements." Today I am happy to move forward, first, in that all the people in the process of reincorporation have social security, have health and we are advancing with them towards employability routes. We have multiplied individual productive projects by eight compared to what we receive. Collective projects,we receive zero and today we not only have a very important group of them, but they are linking these units in productive chains in the territory. And the development plans with a territorial approach, which are the heart of this process. Today we can say that we have 16 plans in execution (we received two); We have more than 200 million dollars in tax works contributed by the private sector and we have more than 1,300 works delivered in those 170 municipalities that have historically been the hardest hit by violence. What are missing things? Sure, because that is scheduled to be implemented in 15 years.Today we can say that we have 16 plans in execution (we received two); We have more than 200 million dollars in tax works contributed by the private sector and we have more than 1,300 works delivered in those 170 municipalities that have historically been the hardest hit by violence. What are missing things? Sure, because that is scheduled to be implemented in 15 years.Today we can say that we have 16 plans in execution (we received two); We have more than 200 million dollars in tax works contributed by the private sector and we have more than 1,300 works delivered in those 170 municipalities that have historically been the hardest hit by violence. What are missing things? Sure, because that is scheduled to be implemented in 15 years.
I summarize the balance as follows: we remain committed to Peace with Legality, but we also have to recognize that as long as there is coca and drug trafficking in Colombia, this will continue to be a fuel for armed groups and therefore we will confront them with all determination. And I can also say this very clearly: we have achieved in three years the lowest aggregate homicide rates in 30 years. And in terms of kidnappings, the darkest crimes we had in Colombia, we have reached the lowest historical rates. What does that show? That peace is built legally but that terrorism is also faced vertically.
Q.- You
mentioned the connection between Venezuela and the Maduro regime with those terrorist activities, and I want to know if for Colombia to face a future of hope in relation to violence, it is necessary for Chavismo to disappear.
R.-
I believe that what is necessary is that the collusion with terrorism ends, and we clearly know that terrorism has had refuge and protection there. There is Iván Márquez, there is El Paisa, shadowy leaders of those structures. There are also Antonio García or Pablito, leaders of the ELN. And they are with the consent of many sectors related to the regime and that also feed on illegal activities such as drug trafficking or the illegal extraction of minerals. This is not new and it is evident, it is known to many international security organs. If we really had in Venezuela a democratic, institutional and reliable government facing this phenomenon, this would have ended a long time ago. But it has been this strategic rearguard and this strategic support that they have provided over the years that has largely kept those groups alive.
Q.-
We are in Spain, Mr. President, and it is inevitable to ask you about the moment of bilateral relations between Colombia and the Government of Pedro Sánchez.
A.-
I think we have a very good relationship.
And I want to highlight something very similar to what I have said about the relationship between Colombia and the United States: our relationship has historically been bipartisan, and I say this for the governments that have led the Spanish Government in the last three decades.
Q.-
I understand that the presence of Podemos members in the Government of Spain interferes in this good relationship.
A.-
I am respectful of the governments and my role is not to question who is part of them.
In politics there are differences and there are positions.
Mine are very clear on many issues and here we are now sending a message to the Spanish people: Governments represent the unity of a country, here and in Colombia.
Q.-
Continuing with diplomatic relations, have you noticed any change in US policy towards Colombia or Latin America since Biden is in the White House?
A.- Next
year we will celebrate 200 years of bilateral relations with the United States.
For us it is something very important and we are working with the Biden Administration on many fronts, such as immigration, where we were pioneers in granting temporary protected status to Venezuelan migrants, such as the United States, which has also done the same.
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