“We have to defeat this 'three ps' authoritarianism more strongly”: Duque throws pullas at Petro

This Thursday, March 17, the President of Colombia, Iván Duque, launched new indirects against the opposition leader and presidential candidate of the Historical Pact, Gustavo Petro, whom he did not mention directly, however, he referred to the importance of defeating the “autocrats 'three ps'”, a qualifier in which he had typecast him.

In the midst of his speech at the ProAntioquia Affiliates' Assembly, which took place in Medellín, in which the president took stock of his government in which he highlighted the achievements made during the four-year period ending on August 7, he referred to the risks posed by the 'three ps' autocrats, defined by the Venezuelan writer Moisés Naím, as “ruled by the words: populism, post-truth and polarization”.

“Do not create autocrats in 'three ps' that exist of all kinds and everywhere, in national governments and also in regional ones. Those who want to delegitimize the things that have been built and who also want to use fallacies to generate ardent and resentment. These subjects use populism, and that means starting to tell people that the businessman should be called rich and ruthless and the worker his victim,” said the head of state during the assembly.

He also noted that these ideas have not been accepted in Colombia and “less so in Antioquia”, indicating that fraternity between employers and employees has historically prevailed in this region of the country, which is expressed in “at a tripartite table where the minimum wage is agreed”, statements that contrast with historical events such as first strike led by women in the textile sector in 1920.

Likewise, he said that these politicians seek the polarization of citizens with the purpose of “enmity and fracture through a high-sounding tone”, stating that they are the ones who “seek to generate mafias and build governance with clique agreements and bureaucratic distributions or public money,” which are fueled by the violence “and then become preachers of peace and humanism”

“Here there can never be any feelings of doubt about defeating those autocrats 'three ps'. Nor does he doubt what will happen. Because what has always happened in Colombia is that they have been defeated by the force of ideas, the forcefulness of facts and by the greatness of their people. And that is what must be in the real hearts and feelings of Colombians today,” said the president.

He also referred to the proposal of opposition leader Gustavo Petro, who leads the polls on voting intention in the country, to make a change to the pension system, stating that autocrats “dare to tell people that they are going to take away the savings of a lifetime in a pension fund to make it money of prey, to be able to ride on aspirations and dividends.”

In turn, he said that Latin America has seen that these autocrats have disposed of grave pension funds from which they have bought sectors of the population to become their loyal defenders, however, they have meant great disruption that can be evidenced in several countries of the region.

“There are many people who believe in peace without impunity and who have the legitimacy to defend ourselves because we have never wielded a weapon, we have never tried to justify crimes with the word revolution, let alone have dared to set fire to the institutions that administer justice. And if we overcome the ravages of the pandemic, today we have to defeat this 'three ps' authoritarianism more forcefully,” President Duque concluded.

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