“I don't think it's a low blow and I don't think I crossed a red line either”: Ingrid Betancourt in the face of controversy over Petro's mental health

This Thursday, the first presidential debate of the regions was held, organized by El Colombiano and Red Más Noticias, in partnership with Vanguardia, El Heraldo and El País and El Universal. The meeting was attended by Sergio Fajardo, Federico Gutiérrez and Ingrid Betancourt, who was again questioned by the recent controversy of their comments regarding a mental health problem that Gustavo Petro would face years ago.

In the first section of the debate, each candidate was asked about a controversial issue. In that regard, Luz María Sierra, director of El Colombiano, asked the candidate for the Oxygen Green Party the following question: “You crossed a red line with the comment about your visit to Petro in Belgium many years ago, do you regret giving you that low blow?” .

The candidate disagreed with the journalist's questioning and explained why she doesn't think things have been like that: “First I don't think it's a low blow and I don't think I crossed a red line either,” she said. Betancourt argued that in the presidential debates “we are spontaneously led to narrate situations” and explained that what he was really trying to do was “confront a situation in which he was lying.”

Faced with this statement, the moderator of the debate asked him why he was lying. According to Ingrid, the discussion began because she criticized Gustavo Petro for the closeness he has begun to have with former President César Gaviria, despite his ideological differences, and he for his part reproached him for working in the Ministry of Finance of that government. “The fact is that he, who is confronting him from an ideological point, worked with César Gaviria in Belgium (...) There we entered into an unplanned debate,” added the candidate.

Ingrid explained that during the discussion, Petro had assured that she had supported Ernesto Samper, “all Colombians know that I faced Samper and went on a hunger strike to confront him,” said the candidate, pointing to her opponent's lie.

This was the comment that Ingrid Betancourt made to him in the previous debate: “I think you have Alzheimer's. Honestly, I don't think you've seen it. And in fact, when I went to visit Gustavo, I remember that he was in a big depression, lying on the floor, unable to move. I'm not going to get involved in your private life, Gustavo, but what the country knows is that if there is anyone who confronted Ernesto Samper, it was me,” said the Oxygen Green candidate.

It is important to note that the candidate of the Historical Pact was unable to counter the testimony that Betancourt gave this Thursday because he did not attend the presidential debate, held in Medellin, although he had confirmed his participation. According to Armando Benedetti to the regional media, Petro had problems with some air permits at El Dorado airport, so he could not leave Bogotá.

Despite his absence, Sergio Fajardo highlighted the mental health problem facing the country during the meeting held by the regional media. “Colombia has levels, which had not been made public, of depression, anxiety (...) So they have to be part of the health system, we have to recognize them and I think we have to be very careful with people who have diseases of that nature because they are part of our lives,” concluded the candidate of the Centro Esperanza coalition.

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