MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombian President critical of Argentine colleague before UN

Petro did not mention Milei by name but criticized people who go around chanting “Long fucking live freedom”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticized the advance of global right leaders who chant “Long fucking live freedom“ but mean ”only the freedom of the richest 1% of the world's population.” Although he did not mention him by name, Petro was undoubtedly referring to his Argentine colleague Javier Milei's war cry. “Their mercantile and free sentiment leads to the destruction of the atmosphere and of life,” Colombia's first-ever leftwing head of state elaborated in defense of the environment.

“From the heart of the earth we invite all countries to be an act of conscience, to leave aside the greed that is killing the human being and mother earth, and to take a step towards total peace,” Petro said quoting his own daughter.

Milei spoke in derogatory terms of Petro during his electoral campaign last year while the former guerrilla combatant likened him to former Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler. In January, Milei also described Petro as a “murderous communist who is sinking Colombia;” in March, he also called him a “terrorist,” after which Bogotá expelled Argentina's diplomatic mission.

“The power of a country in the world is no longer exercised by the type of economic or political system or ideas it radiates, but by the power to destroy the life of humanity,” Petro also pointed out. Regarding the ongoing Middle East crisis, Petro sided with the Palestinian cause and underlined that “when Gaza dies, humanity will die.“ He also spoke of a ”genocide“ allegedly caused there by the Israeli forces despite global claims against such a deployment. ”The presidents of the countries that can destroy humanity do not listen to us when we vote to stop the genocide in Gaza, even though we are the majority of the world's presidents,” insisted Petro.

“Today we have 20,000 children murdered under the bombs and the presidents of the countries of human destruction are laughing in these corridors with the help of the communication power of the world media, which today are owned by the big capitals and reorder the world without democracy, without freedom,” he added.

“The democratic project of humanity is dying with life, while the racists, the supremacists, those who stupidly believe that the Aryans are the superior race are preparing to dominate the world,” he also pointed out.

He also noted that 1% of humanity had more wealth than 95% of all humanity combined. ”It is in this inequality, the greatest in our history as a species, where we find the logic of massive destruction, unleashed in the climate crisis,” he stressed while urging “the 1% of humanity” responsible “for the climate crisis” to become aware of its long-term consequences for the planet. He also said that the numerous forest fires such as the ones in the Amazon rainforest were proof of ”global warming and the climate crisis.”

“If governments could not as demonstrated here (...) then it is time to take the solution of the great problems of humanity, in the hands of the people themselves,” Petro also suggested.