On Wednesday, April 13, there was a stir on social networks following the presidential candidate for the Historical Pact, Gustavo Petro, mentioned a quite controversial proposal, which has been strongly criticized, questioned and has even been mentioned as being a stone in the shoe for the candidate to reach the House of Nariño.
Among users of digital platforms, the fact that the candidate’s brother, Juan Fernando Petro, spoke with Iván Moreno in La Picota prison in Bogotá did not go down very well. Moreno is the brother of the former mayor of the city Samuel Moreno, both convicted of the hiring carousel in the capitalconsidered one of the largest embezzlements in the country.
In the middle of his visit, Petro’s brother also met with other prisoners, such as former senator Álvaro ‘Gordo’ García, convicted of parapolitics because of a massacre of 12 peasants in Macayepo, Carmen de Bolivar.
Likewise, with Franklin Germán Chaparro Carrillo, former mayor of Villavicencio, sentenced to 39 years for manslaughter; Ronald Housni Haller, former Governor of San Andrés, sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiracy to commit a crimeimproper conclusion of contracts, embezzlement by appropriation and bribery.
Petro’s brother also spoke with Javier Zapata, former governor of Guainía, charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, undue interest in entering into contracts and embezzlementeither; with Whitman Porras, former governor of Casanare, sentenced to 18 years in prison for embezzlement for appropriation and improper conclusion of contracts; and with Manuel Antonio Carebilla, former congressman and former governor of Amazonas, sentenced to 14 years in prison for embezzlement, improper bribery, concussion and ideological falsehood.
In the middle of his visit, Gustavo Petro’s brother was in the company by Juan Danilo Rueda, coordinator of the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, an NGO where Juan Fernando Petro works. It is believed that Rueda registered when he entered the prison in the name of the Truth Commission; It is still unknown why he did it if he has no ties to said entity.
Petro, instead of clarifying what happened, defended Moreno saying that “he was corrupt”, that it is a “very interesting” personal case and that, in addition, Moreno himself suggested that he be the “builder” of that “social forgiveness”. ” regarding which the candidate for the Historical Pact talks so much, topic that has caused great controversy in the country and for which it has been strongly criticizedby the other candidates for the Presidency and other political sectors of the country.
On the other hand, in the middle of an interview with SEMANA, Juan Fernando Petro explained that he works on humanitarian issues with victims, perpetrators, former guerrillas and former paramilitaries, in a process of forgiveness and reconciliation. “I make it clear that it is my job, it is what I do, it is what I want to continue doing and it is completely independent of the presidential campaign”
The candidate for the Presidency, Federico Gutiérrez, expressed himself before what happened and regarding his opponent’s proposal for “social forgiveness” he said the following words: “The pact in La Picota ended up being ‘historic’.
The presidential candidate of the Team for Colombia coalition, he had already mentioned his opinion on the subject, days ago, asserted that “social forgiveness” was regarding “alliances with the corrupt to get votes.” “As much as Petro tries to explain, his intention would be to give a ‘social pardon’ to the worst corrupt and parapolitical. In our Presidency, the corrupt and the violent are in jail,” Gutiérrez wrote on his twitter account.
The meetings that Gustavo Petro’s brother had with the convicted and accused lasted approximately six hours and occurred on April 8. They were not known by the foundation of Juan Fernando or by members of the Historical Pact. Images of the presidential candidate’s brother began to circulate on social networks around La Picota, which attracted attention. Juan Fernando said that the conversations with the prisoners were of a humanitarian nature and to improve prison policies.
