The Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, has entered the Congress of Deputies with the entire chamber standing and applauding. Everything, except the Vox benches. The far-right deputies have remained sitting, in silence, before the entrance of the Latin American president. But his protest gestures have not stopped at that. Led by Santiago Abascalthe far-right parliamentarians have risen from their seats before Petro took the floor and have absented themselves from the lower house, in contrast to the PP deputies, with Alberto Núñez Feijóo at the head, who, standing, has applauded the president of Colombia.
Feijóo distances himself from Abascal and stands up to applaud the president of Colombia together with the members of the Government
“Petro is to Colombia what Otegui is to Spain. An unrepentant terrorist”, with these forceful words Abascal has compared the Latin American president with the current general coordinator of EH Bildu. The Vox leader has charged hard against the Spanish Government, “always submissive to the enemies of freedoms, from China until Venezuelagoing by Cuba or by Colombia“, for having received the Colombian president with honors. Specifically, he has denounced that “this gentleman has a past of blood, which has left pain, deaths and a past that he has not regretted”, referring to the militancy of Petro in an urban guerilla in Colombia’s internal armed conflict almost four decades ago.
The ultra formation registered this Wednesday a letter in the Congress of Deputies addressed to the president of the Chamber, Meritxell Batetin which they denounce that receiving Petro at the seat of national sovereignty is a “danger” for Spain and for Europe. In the letter, they accuse the Colombian president of being part of the Sao Paulo forum and the village groupa group of Latin American left-wing parties and a forum of left-wing leaders, respectively, and wanting to “impose a false world view that serves as an alibi for the establishment of tyrannies such as those suffered in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua”.
PP distance
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While the Vox deputies have been leaving the chamber, once Abascal gave them the order with a gesture, Feijóo has stood up dragging his bench, joining the Government and the rest of the parliamentary groups that wanted to support Petro. It took a few seconds, but they have also decided to clap with it, Cuca Gamarra and Javier Marotoand some other popular deputies.
There were some PP parliamentarians who did not applaud, but remained standing. Feijóo has thus sought to distance himself from Vox at a crucial moment: less than a month before the regional and municipal elections, and with the intention of breaking the idea that the PP and Vox “They are the same”. The leader of the PP defends a different strategy at the institutional level, an area in which he understands that more differences with the ultras can be staged.