Senator from the Democratic Center María Fernanda Cabal is in Bucharest, capital of Romania, where she was invited to give a speech on Colombia to parliamentarians from different nations. The meeting is led by former congressman Robert Pittenger, from the United States, who extended the invitation.
The central issue was the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and, in his speech, Cabal spoke of an alleged interference by the Kremlin in Colombia and other Latin American countries, with special emphasis on the violent protests that have occurred.
“It’s a new positioning in the power game and the Ukraine war shows it,” Cabal said. The senator explained to SEMANA the importance of the meeting. She said that she has shared with congressmen from Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Chile and Mexico.
From there he took the opportunity to talk regarding the announcements of the president-elect Gustavo Petro. He expressed his concern with the new Government and his proposals. “Each one that announces the name of a new minister causes more chaos and the serious thing is that it does not correct the tension in the market, at least giving a message of calm. The Ecopetrol issue is a disaster and the dollar is the best indicator of investment fear. If there is no investor confidence, there is no healthy economy,” said Cabal.
He questioned Petro for his tax reform proposal. “How does Petro intend to charge more taxes without giving businessmen peace of mind? The truth is that it is absolutely absurd,” she said.
He pointed out that it is “impossible” to make a tax reform with which 75 billion pesos can be collected. “Unless he wants to generate such large imbalances, what he is going to do is contract the economy because the investor will not invest what is expected or prefers to close his business and not bet more on this country,” Cabal said.
According to her, that already happened with Petro when he was mayor of Bogotá with the construction sector. The uribista senator affirmed that, at that time, businessmen from that union preferred to invest in projects in other cities such as Barranquilla, Cali or outside the country in Panama or the United States.
On the agrarian reform proposed by the Petrismo, he stated: “The left is still obsessed with the myth of the land as if inheritance did not exist.” “The left and Petro especially lives telling the story of the large estate as if we lived in colonial times and it is not like that,” he added.
He said that agricultural producers do not have roads, easy access credits, they have an unstable market, there is a lack of access to technology, among other difficulties.
He mentioned that the only way in which there might be rural development is for the large producer to make alliances with the small farmer, as has happened in some parts of the country, such as the high plains, María La Baja or César.
Despite this, he believes that peasants should access titled land, but that the way is not seeking to generate damage and legal insecurity.
He pointed out that beyond seeking to have the title of leader of the opposition, his aspiration is to maintain loyalty to his constituents and defend them from the fear and uncertainty of this government.
“When he governed he was terrible, not even in his private life has he shown that he has done anything, he has not created a company, he has not paid a salary, In short, it seems to me that he is an absolutely incompetent person except to repeat the populism with which he uses the needy classes and the anguish of poverty,” said Cabal.
He clarified that the Democratic Center will remain in opposition and that it is likely that they will support few initiatives, despite the fact that the party has said that it will support those that generate development for the country.