“Social forgiveness is not ordered by the president, but by society”: Gustavo Petro defended his controversial contacts with Samuel Moreno

A new controversy has sparked the presidential candidate of the Historical Pact, Gustavo Petro, by proposing a “social pardon” for brothers Ivan and Samuel Moreno, who were convicted of millionaire cases of corruption in Bogotá. The subject caused so much controversy that the same applicant had to speak out and explain what he meant.

Several personalities in the country, such as Petro's electoral opponents (Sergio Fajardo, Federico Gutiérrez, Enrique Gómez, among others) have made public their positions against the idea of “social forgiveness” promoted by the progressive candidate.

All these remarks led Petro, through several threads on his Twitter profile, to say that violence in the country must be ended through this forgiveness. Moreover, he says that “the only way to settle the wounds is through an immense global forgiveness,” he said through his Twitter account.

The former mayor of Bogotá responded to a journalist who analyzed his controversial proposal and concluded that what the candidate is allegedly seeking is to win votes in these sectors. These premises prompted Petro's response, who explained how this pardon would work for criminals like the ones his brother recently visited in La Picota prison, south of the capital.

Moreover, he even described several of the alleged qualities that the social forgiveness he proposes for Colombia would bring with it and that has caused severe attacks against him from most sectors of society. “Social forgiveness is not impunity, it is reparative justice. Social forgiveness is not a cover-up, it is a process of historical truth. Social forgiveness is neither legal nor divine, it is an earthly forgiveness of citizenship. Social forgiveness is not ordered by the president, but by society,” he added.

What's more, the applicant for the Historical Pact is so convinced of his proposal that he even sent journalists to read about an alleged “social forgiveness” investigation promoted by two of Colombia's most prestigious universities and in which, Petro says, he participated.

However, that first pronouncement did not like public opinion at all, given that they sent him harsh darts again and even compared his initiative with the “general amnesty” proposed by former President Álvaro Uribe. Once again, Petro had to speak out and explain that he does not seek to remove blame from criminals, but to end the violence that has plagued the country.

In fact, he even mentioned several of the principles of transitional justice and assured that “reconciliation involves the truth, justice and reparation that many perpetrators, before social forgiveness, must grant to society and victims,” he said, in turn questioning Fajardo, Fico and other of his detractors for questioning him the an idea that has not ceased to sound in public opinion.

“Our media rivals are doing badly, the same ones who were going to talk drug prisoners saying they had given money to the campaign, putting them to talk now by saying that they were offered a reduction in penalties for votes,” Gustavo Petro concluded in other posts on his Twitter profile.

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