MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petro decorates Mujica with Colombia's highest distinction

Both former guerrilla fighters highlighted how much they have in common

Colombian President Gustavo Petro Thursday decorated Uruguay's former head of State José Pepe Mujica with the Order of Boyacá for his commitment to regional peace. The ceremony was held at Mujica's residence in Rincón del Cerro, on the outskirts of the country's capital, where the 89-year-old leftwing leader welcomed a group of his supporters.

Petro, who is in Montevideo attending a series of engagements leading up to the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) Summit, said he has had a “very close relationship since he was young” with Uruguay and compared his own career as a guerrilla fighter with that of Mujica. Colombia is an associate State of the bloc.

The first leftwing President in Colombia's history used to be a member of the M-19 guerrillas in his youth while Mujica belonged to the National Liberation Movement-Tupamaros (MLN-T). “We both ended up laying down our arms because we understood that peace was the most important and the most revolutionary thing in a society,” Petro said.

In addition, Petro underlined Uruguay's shared efforts in promoting renewable energies to combat climate change. “Uruguay is 100% clean energy; it can help us to de-fossilize the world and make life prevail on the planet and not greed,” he said.

The Colombian leader also insisted that Uruguay's incumbent President Luis Lacalle Pou “does not want to kill the left, unlike many Latin American countries,” which “is important because Colombia comes from an armed polarization that has left many dead in the country.”

Mujica is a “defender of peace and a firm advocate of dialogue as the only way to resolve conflicts,” the Colombian Government said in awarding Mujica the blue sash with a cross showing the face of South American independence hero Simón Bolívar. During his presidency (2010-2015), Mujica supported the Colombian peace process involving the dissolution of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2017.

After a one-on-one meeting with Orsi on Wednesday, Uruguay's future head of State highlighted that “the central issue” under discussion “was the energy issue and the environmental issue” as well as “the history of our peoples.” Orsi, a history teacher, also underlined that “we have common and shared problems” while stressing the importance of finding common strengths beyond political affiliations. He also underscored Uruguay's “historic vocation for peace and the promotion of dialogue.”

Petro also noted that “sometimes” Uruguay “makes one envious” because “almost everyone lives like the Colombian upper-middle class.”