“Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez are the candidates of the FARC and the ELN”: controversial statements by Uribista councillor

Another controversy muddles the presidential formula of the Historical Pact formed by Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez. This time, because the vice president of the Bogotá Council, Rafael Amín Martelo, known as Papo Amín, called them the candidates of the FARC and the National Liberation Army, ELN.

Amín, who is a member of the Democratic Center, published two trills in which he made such statements against Petro and Márquez, who are competing for the Presidency of the Republic. The accusations were not only questioned on social networks, but also during the Council session this Wednesday, March 30.

From Human Colombia there were strong criticisms. For example, Councilwoman Susana Muhammad vehemently questioned the Uribista lobbyist and denounced that there were no guarantees for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of that progressive alliance.

What's more, Muhammad posted posters around the capital council premises in which he said: “There are no guarantees for the Historical Pact. France and Petro respect each other.” In addition, in a post on his official Twitter account he attached the trills of Amín and assured that, by wanting to refute the vice president of the council, he would have prevented them from doing so.

“The Board of Directors of the Bogotá Council Rubén Torrado, Papo Amín and Samir Abisambra. There are NO guarantees for #PactoHistorico after the lies to our @s candidate @s. The President does not allow the floor before starting the session, and allows the vice president to manage the session,” said the Councilwoman Petrista.

After the criticism that came from different sectors, Amín spoke out, distorted the accusations of his colleague in the Council and assured that Francia Márquez and Gustavo Petro must speak out and reject the alleged support they receive from the guerrillas.

What's more, he even sent a recommendation to the politicians of the Historical Pact. “If they - Petro and Márquez - do not want to count on those supports, then they go out and reject them, this is not information that I invented, this is information that appears in many media and that we saw on the ELN website,” he said.

Councilwoman Susana Muhammad did not like these statements, who spoke again, in dialogue with the country's media, and said that Amin's allegations were “an act of political violence and stigmatization,” she said for the newspaper El Espectador.

In addition, for the W, the lobbyist referred to the death threats received in recent weeks by the formulas of the Historical Pact and urged the vice president of the Democratic Center to cease his harsh comments. “In politics we cannot call ourselves misunderstandings, Papo Amin's statement creates a climate of communication (...) if you look at the history of France, such statements have cost threats against your life, your community in northern Cauca, this is irresponsible coming in addition to a councilman from Bogotá,” criticized Muhammad.

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