In the midst of the dispute between President Gustavo Petro and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, the Colombian brought to light a fact that caught everyone's attention.
In a statement he made this Thursday, October 23, at the Casa de Nariño, he sent a direct message to the United States: according to him, in Colombia,"there are more than 5,000 American citizens who lack legal residence."
At the same time, he spoke about the United States intelligence agencies, their influence in Colombia and the possibility of rebuilding relations with them through dialogue, taking advantage of the crisis itself.
[With] “the [intelligence] bodies that have been collaborating with us in the United States for years in this type of fight […], we have to rebuild —let's say— our collaboration ,” he began.
Despite this, he didn't miss the opportunity to question the role of these agencies in Colombia, saying:"They have their ups and downs, because the CIA brought us Pegasus during the Duque administration, and that's an activity that violates the Constitution and the law, using the National Police. And there isn't a single prisoner in Colombia for this act of illegal interception of communications."
And returning to his initial point, he expressed that he does believe that"this crisis allows for a space to" discuss the bilateral relationship.
"I've had it—and they've told me so—because they give us visas, they send people back by plane, and we don't do the same," he added.
"What I've tried to demonstrate here is how the Colombian strategy, while not perfect, is more effective than what's being done. And it's demonstrated in numbers, in figures, in quantities, in the number of people who die in the activity. It's more effective," he explained, without clarifying which activity he was referring to.
Even near this palace. And the same with regard to uniformed personnel, etc..”
He recounted, to emphasize his argument, that he gave nationality to an Israeli because he married a Colombian and despite this:
“There is a far-right congressman saying that I am from Hamas. He did not even realize this recent event, I wanted to protect him (the Israeli), precisely from Hamas or from any danger while being a hostage, believing that, being a Colombian citizen, Hamas would have a preference for him and would release him.”
Finally, he noted:"It turns out that they treated him well, which is what he has pointed out to the press in Israel, and that served its purpose. But what it shows is that I'm not really interested in persecuting nationalities or peoples."
