After going once morest the candidate Gustavo Petro, the commander of the Armed Forces, General Eduardo Zapateiro, was showered with criticism, requests for resignation and even the presidential support of President Iván Duque.
“I have not seen any general on television receiving ill-gotten money. The Colombians they have seen you receive money in a garbage bag”, were Zapateiro’s words that had a specific target: Gustavo Petro.
The general’s reaction was a response to a trill published by Gustavo Petro as a reaction to the death of seven soldiers in Frontino, Antioquia, in an ambush by the Gulf Clan.
“While the soldiers are being killed by the Gulf Clan, some of the generals are on the Clan’s payroll. The leadership is corrupted when drug trafficking politicians are the ones who end up being promoted to generals”, reads the candidate’s publication on April 20.
The 35 words that Petro wrote in that trill lit the general’s fuse and this Friday he responded in a diatribe that spans 5 points.
According to the lawyer and professor, Rodrigo Uprimny, the general’s statements correspond to a violation of the articles 127 and 219 of the Constitution. The lawyer described the incident as “very serious.”
Indeed, article 127, in one of its subsections, dictates that “the use of employment to pressure citizens to support a political cause or campaign constitutes grounds for misconduct.”
With this argument, the elected senator of the Historical Pact, Roy Barreras, went to the Attorney General’s Office. The Congressman argued that the fault of the high official is very serious and asked the attorney, Margarita Cabello, to temporarily suspend General Zapateiro.
In support of the senator and presidential candidate, even his opponents have come out. Sergio Fajardo He commented that government officials and the armed forces became polarized and normalized participation in politics.
In his turn, Senator Jorge Robledo asked Iván Duque and the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, who do not tolerate “shameless” intervention in the general’s politics: “The Constitution that the three swore to abide by prohibits this intervention. Very serious breach of a fundamental democratic criterion”.
Despite requests from political sectors, President Duque came out in support of Zapateiro.
“A senator of the Republic pronounced himself attacking our military forces, calling them accomplices of drug trafficking. If any person, and more than one congressman, makes an accusation of that level, present it to the courts and not tarnish the institutionality with politics”, was the response of the president during a forum in Cartagena.
The Externado University National Security and Defense professor, Jairo Libreros, commented to EL COLOMBIANO that Zapateiro’s statements are unfortunate and take the form of an “intimidating” message.
“If the general did not like the senator’s criticism, he should have kept silent because he is not authorized to intervene in politics. The rejection statement The Minister of Defense should have done it, since he is the responsible civilian –and authorized– to refer to military issues”, explained Professor Booksellers.