In their opinion, congressmen David Luna and Mauricio Gómez explained the damage – in their opinion irreparable – caused by the loss of the Pan American Games. In addition, they warned that, despite his early resignation, the motion of censure against Rodríguez remains.
At the time, President Gustavo Petro himself stated that the venue of the games had been lost due to “ignorance” in the execution of payments. In response to what the president said, Senator David Luna questioned: “Due to ignorance and incompetence, are we going to lose a million dollars as a result of paying Colombians’ taxes?”
“Here there were dreams, there were illusions, not only for the merchants, for the hoteliers, for a wonderful city like Barranquilla, which must be shown to the world, but fundamentally for the athletes, the high performers who come to us. writing during these days saying that, please, do not disrespect them anymore. The thing is that sport cannot continue being Cinderella, which is only used when there are medals to appear in presidential photos, but when there are events of this magnitude, they are simply forgotten.“Luna expressed.
Next, the Radical Change senator confronted the Petro Government and said: “I do want to ask the government, head-on, if these games were lost due to ignorance or were lost due to malice.”
For Luna, it is curious that “everything was going well” until the arrival of the regional elections. “Petro did not win in the department of Atlántico, in the city of Barranquilla, it seems that this decision appears out of nowhere. I don’t want to think that it was out of pettiness, but it’s worth it for the government to clarify it.”
“María Isabel Urrutia blew up the games”
In turn, Senator Mauricio Gómez did not detract from the former minister María Isabel Urrutia’s responsibility for the loss of the games. As he said, she was the one who “ended hope.”
But his criticism did not stop there. Gómez was emphatic in saying that, for him, there was no political will from day one. Furthermore, he stated that for the government of President Gustavo Petro, The Pan American Games in Barranquilla were not a priority.
“Former Minister Urrutia said it, that 400 million dollars was a lot of money, but when we talk about other regions of the country, billions of pesos for the Bogotá or Medellín metro, that is not a lot of money. I have always said: it seems that in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Valledupar we are children of less mothers, and we are not. We are Colombians, a thriving and successful region,” added Gómez in the space of
Finally, regarding the loss of the games, the congressman analyzed that it constitutes a contradiction on the part of President Petro.
“From day one he said that tourism was the new oil. “This was the most important tourism showcase of the last 50 years and he let it lose”he concluded.
