Taken together, these elements have revived one of the main criticisms that has been made of the Petro Government: the abandonment of public forces. In the space of, voices analyzed whether the national administration is seeking to weaken the Military Forces.
For Senator José Vicente Carreño, President Gustavo Petro “is wrong.” In fact, he commented that, under his concept, “this government has not started to govern.”
“Today with the story that they want to take him down, that there is a soft action to take him down. No, here what we have to tell this government is that it is going to be removed through democratic means, electoral means. And that will happen in two years (…). It is true that a weakening has been seen in the Military and Police Forces, that is publicly known, we have all seen how the force has been weakened. Now, let it be said that it is being suggested that the military intends to overthrow him, no; “It has the good fortune of a very professional public force that has historically been respectful of the Constitution and the law,” said the congressman from the Democratic Center.
Along these lines, Carreño indicated that President Petro is throwing a “smoke screen” to hide his “bad administration” and wanting to draw attention. “He is wrong if he believes that a sector like ours or the military intends to overthrow him from power. It is not like that”he added.
“A president who likes to victimize himself”
In turn, former minister Daniel Palacios assured that the alleged intention to overthrow him and his repeated statements referring to a soft coup against him are part of a narrative that the Government has implemented “from the beginning.”
“This is a president who likes to victimize himself. He constantly victimizes himself to hide the corruption scandals of his administration, He victimizes himself to hide what happened to his son (Nicolás Petro), he victimizes himself to always give an inability to give results (…). “We must be clear, no one is thinking about overthrowing the President of the Republic,” said Palacios in the space of
Regarding the situation of the public force, the former Minister of the Interior commented: “It does feel that the military forces are tied” because, in effect, they are “through a decree of a bilateral cessation in the vast majority of the country.” ”.
“I believe that there is clarity that the public force is tied to the direction that the Government has given it”he added.
“No one wants to take down Petro”
“No one wants to take down Petro. We want his government to end within the constitutional time and that we once again have the opportunity to get the country back on track, and that in 2026 this fateful and disastrous exercise that has been the government of change will end,” he pointed out.
By the way, in response to the alleged incitement of retired military personnel to overthrow the Petro Government and take up arms against the constitutional order, Major General (r) José Francisco Forero, president of the retired Corps of Generals and Admirals of the Colombian Military Forces (CGA) said: “Never. Our training, our principles and values are always to respect the constitutional order (…). And that has been made clear to him on several occasions that we have had to speak with State agents.”
“We are neither inciting to overthrow him nor inciting him to leave office. “We want the government to end, to show that they do not have the capacity, the training, the line where they can lead this country so that it is prosperous and safe, as we Colombians dream.” expressed Major General (r) Forero.
Finally, Colonel (r) José Luis Esparza took the opportunity to highlight the importance of keeping the public force away from the discussions held on political matters.
“The armed forces, which come before the birth of the Republic, have been taken from one side to the other, and that is not right (…). “My position has always been unique: please remove the armed forces from this conflict,” Colonel (r) Esparza rounded out.