To cancel the debt of Icetex and other proposals by Gustavo Petro that Iván Duque has criticized

The President of the Republic, Iván Duque, once again referred to one of the proposals made by the candidate of the Historical Pact, Gustavo Petro, in his campaign to reach the Casa de Nariño. Although the president has not mentioned the name of the other senator, it is important to remember that public officials are not allowed to participate in the electoral political debate, and the Attorney General's Office can investigate them for this improper participation.

This time the topic to be discussed was around Icetex. Last Tuesday, Gustavo Petro participated in a presidential debate at the Universidad Externado de Colombia and assured that the debt of the state financial institution “must be forgiven” and that he would rethink the program to focus on loans for studying abroad.

The candidate explained that, “half of those who have credit and are studying leave the university and do not finish. Several think of suicide and take away the time of entrepreneurship once the race to repay the debt is over.” He also pointed out that higher education “is a right not a business with public money.”

See also: Gustavo Petro proposed that Icetex forgive all debts to students

Faced with the proposal, the president said that it is a “populist” idea at an event he held in Casanare to talk about the achievements of education in the department. “Be very careful with those who are now proposing to end Icetex and who say that all debts are canceled there, that is, 9 billion,” said Duque and questioned what would happen to those who are currently on the program: “Are they leaving them out? What happens when there is no longer anyone to lend the resource to?”

Likewise, the president stressed that during his term of office, the cheapest rates in the history of Icetex were achieved. “What they propose is the ruin of the education financing system,” said Iván Duque. We have sought to give it free, but those who are not in it have the tools of financing.”

Reform of the pension system

At the beginning of March, Gustavo Petro participated in one of the debates held by El Tiempo y Semana and presented his pension proposal. The senator explained that he will not eliminate private pension funds, but will create a “mixed and complementary system”, where contributors who have more than four salaries can enter without problem.

In another debate, Team for Colombia candidate Federico Gutiérrez questioned Gustavo Petro about promising the pension to those older adults who do not currently receive it: “'Where are you going to get that money from? , the accounts don't add up,” asked the former mayor of Medellín.

Gustavo Petro explained to him what pension reform would be like to guarantee the pension to the entire population: “Instead of having private pension funds, with poorly managed individual savings contributions at 30% that they receive in a bank, you send that money to a public fund: Colpensiones. With that money we immediately pay the current pensions that the State is paying today.”

Faced with the proposal, President Iván Duque said that the proposal has serious consequences for the country that would result in ending the system or private funds. “Talking about taking those resources away from the funds is an expropriation, it is a 'playpen' as we saw in Latin America and taking that money out of their pocket to finance demagogy,” said the head of state.

Duque also indicated that “destroying” pension funds would affect the financing of key infrastructure works in the country, which, according to the national government, have been a potentiator for economic recovery.

Economic emergency in Colombia

At the end of February, Petro expressed concern about the national scene regarding hunger and revealed what his first presidential decree would be: to declare an economic emergency in Colombia. The objective of this proposal would be to bring food to the vulnerable population who are in remote areas or flagellated by the same inequity.

“Food is in the supermarket, but people can't buy it and that's why we're on the verge of famine. How is it solved? , in the short term, to day on the first day of government, an economic emergency decree,” explained the candidate of the Historical Pact. He even recommended Duque to declare it before the end of his presidential term.

For his part, the first president was emphatic that the idea of the aspirant of the Historical Pact is “populist and demagogic”. Duque pointed out in an interview on Blu Radio that, “economic declarations do not end hunger and if that were so hunger would have ended a long time ago.”

In addition, the head of state asked Colombians to “be careful” with such initiatives and assured that the next government should focus on structure-based initiatives that not only benefit the Colombian economy, but contribute to ending hunger.

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