Berlin (EFE).- The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, insisted this Thursday in a meeting with the Colombian community at the Ibero-American Institute in Berlin that there are forces that will continue to attack his government with the purpose of “overthrowing” it.
“They are going to continue attacking us to break the relationship between the government and the people, to overthrow the government,” Petro said in his speech.
The scandal that shakes the Government of Petro
Petro is currently facing harsh criticism in Colombia after the scandal that led to the dismissal of the ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti – who was also head of the presidential campaign – and presidential adviser Laura Sarabia.
The origin of the scandal was that a former nanny who had worked for Sarabia had been subjected to a lie detector interrogation at the presidential headquarters without a court order.
The reason for the interrogation was the loss of a briefcase with money from Sarabia’s house.
Subsequently, the media brought to light audio recordings in which Benedetti told Sarabia that he had obtained millions for the campaign, that they had isolated him from the center of power and that if he spoke they would all go to jail.
In the framework of the investigations, it was also found that the babysitter’s phone was tapped.
One of those responsible for the wiretapping, Óscar Dávila, later appeared dead after failing to withstand the pressure and committing suicide.
Philosophers do not “chuzan”
Today in Berlin, Petro tried to downplay the issue of wiretapping by saying that the director of the Intelligence services was a philosopher who had studied in Germany -Manuel Alberto Casanova- and suggested that philosophers do not “chuzan” (intervene). phones.
“The Director of Intelligence is a philosopher who made his career in Germany but it seems that there are people who believe that philosophers slam phones,” he said.
Casanova was a member of the April 19 Movement, a guerrilla organization to which Petro also belonged.
The president denies new revelations in the media
The Colombian president also denied this Thursday a version published in Semana magazine, according to which an anonymous source points him out as the owner of a large sum of money allegedly stolen from the home of his former chief of staff and assured that this is intended to defame him.
“These alleged testimonies, which have a defamatory interest against the President of the Republic, seek to undermine the confidence of citizens in the national government, through versions of events in which no type of evidence is provided or exists,” Petro, who is visiting Germany, said in a statement.
According to the version published last night by the magazine, the money stolen from Sarabia’s house, which gave rise to a scandal in the Government, “was from Petro, there were five suitcases and 3,000 million pesos (about $718,000).”
“Dávila (the colonel) told me that Petro sent Laura (Sarabia) to keep the money in the apartment for him, that money was lost, so they needed him to appear before having to inform the president that it had been lost,” said the witness, according to week
Before that publication, Petro said today in the statement: “Never in my existence have I even seen the amount of money claimed by an anonymous source and used by the journalist Vicky Dávila for a publication in Semana magazine.”