The Vice President and Foreign Minister of Colombia, Marta Lucia Ramírez, considers that if the “total peace” proposal of the incoming government of Gustavo Petro intends to legalize criminal activities would be “a slap in the face” to the country, and affirms that a “constructive opposition” to the new administration, which will begin on August 7.
About to close a cycle in her political career of almost 25 years, during which she has been Minister of Commerce and Defense, ambassador, senator and currently vice president and chancellor, Ramírez affirms in an interview with Efe that following leaving her positions she will take a break, but will continue to work, especially for women’s equality, one of its causes.
“We are still waiting for when the bills are presented. We do not want to do what happened to our government, that from the moment we won they declared us a resistance and we lived four years with a permanent resistance, with attacks, not recognizing anything that was positive in this government. I don’t think that’s healthy,” he said.
The government of Gustavo Petro proposed a total peace with the armed groups outside the law, a proposal that already has strong objections in opposition sectors. “One thing is that there are people who had a political ideology 40 or 50 years ago, and that is why they were in the guerrillas and that there is a peace process to incorporate them politically, but another thing is to talk regarding legalizing everything that has been the crime in this country and that they remain in impunity,” said Vice President Ramírez.
For her, seeking a general solution to the conflict, in which there is impunity, “it would be a slap in the face to all Colombians.” “If they are going to tell us at this point in life that in order to talk regarding total peace we have to get all those who have stolen money in public works out of jail, with all that there has been (of corruption) in this country in this matter, that would not be flattering for the future of the country in terms of peace”, he affirmed.
However, Petro’s proposal, although in principle open to all criminal groups, involves different processes for each illegal structure. The incoming government will seek one or several legal mechanisms to subjugate groups such as the ELN, the Clan del Golfo or Los Caparros.
Despite being on two politically opposite shores, Ramírez acknowledged that his position “will always be to support everything that is useful to Colombia, it does not matter if it is a government with a different ideological position, if it is useful to Colombia, we will support it.”
Regarding the government coalitions that allowed Petro to have majorities in Congress, Ramírez assured that “this is typical of politics.” “Making coalitions is not bad, what would be bad is that those coalitions in Congress are going to deny a fundamental principle of democracy, which is transparent debate, in the face of opinion,” he said.
The outgoing vice president also considered that “Government coalitions are normal in all democracies as long as a majority does not mean passing a steamroller over the minorityyes”. For Ramírez, “the country will always need a legitimate, constructive opposition, which I don’t think can dedicate itself to attacking, to opposing everything that a new government represents at this time; any opposition has a moral obligation to always be constructive”.
“About the new government, more than opinions, what I have is good wishes, the wish that they do well, that they be successful, that they succeed in achieving a country where this democracy is increasingly strengthened, which is the most stable democracy. of Latin America”, he clarified however.
regarding the deteriorated diplomatic relationship with Venezuela, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro recalled that he expelled all Colombian diplomats, which further complicated ties with the neighboring country, which had already been weak since the government of Juan Manuel Santos.
“Colombia always had the border open and the one who closed the border, who also put all those containers (on one of the binational bridges) was the Maduro dictatorship,” he assured. “We have always been willing for Venezuelans to arrive. Nothing more generous than what Iván Duque did with the Temporary Protection Statute, not only to welcome Venezuelans but also to always allow them to cross the border, make their purchases and return to Venezuela,” he said.
Although he considers that at the level of trade and economic relations it is possible that there will be more integration between the two countries, he made it clear that this does not mean that his government will normalize “the relationship with a dictatorship, that would be to totally lose coherence.” “Is that that dictatorship has generated a very deep humanitarian crisis in Venezuela of which the first mourners are us in Colombia”, he said.
