“Tell Colombians the truth”: reactions to Petro's request that Piedad Córdoba stay away from his campaign

On April 20 in the morning hours through his official Twitter account Gustavo Petro, the presidential candidate of Pact Histórico, announced that he asked Senator-elect Piedad Córdoba to withdraw from her political company until the legal accusations surrounding her are resolved.

“I ask Piedad Córdoba to suspend all its activities within the campaign, until it can resolve, hopefully, favorably, the legal syndications that are made to it”, triune the senator of Human Colombia.

It is important to mention that Córdoba is related to two highly important investigations. The first has to do with the accusations he has against him and which relate to being alias Teodora, one of the guerrillas of the extinct FARC guerrilla that would have hindered the freedom of several abductees. The other accusation has to do with his alleged political and economic ties that he once forged with Alex Saab, one of the noted front men of Nicolás Maduro's regime and who is currently facing charges in the United States.

After the news, which was surprising for many followers of the Historical Pact, because although the accusations have been coming since 2021, until now the candidate took a definitive stance. On social networks, many figures in national politics began to react and many of the messages come with questions.

One of the first to ask questions to the left-wing leader was another presidential candidate, Federico Gutiérrez, the representative of Equipo for Colombia, who through the same medium in which Petro announced his petition demanded that he “tell the truth to Colombians.”

“Petro: is Piedad also going to turn out to be an entrapment? What will this gentleman know, if he is asking her to withdraw from the campaign? This “ethical” act that is actually cynical is not enough. Tell Colombians the truth, Gustavo,” wrote the presidential candidate supported by traditional Colombian political movements.

Another candidate in the electoral contest that sent a strong message was, Enrique Gómez, who briefly summarized the news that had come out about the members of the Historical Pact and ended by recalling the concept for which Gustavo Petro was strongly criticized.

“Summary of the week: Pact in La Picota de Petro, France Marquez with properties, not so impoverished, rather like the poor old lady. El Pollo Carvajal telling what we all know and Piedad Córdoba canceled for its own campaign on the subject Alex Saab Social Pardon? ”, noted the right-wing candidate.

For his part of the Centro Esperanza Coalition, the one who spoke was Carlos Fernando Galán, who asked him a series of questions that question why until now the decision was made to remove the senator from the campaign when the accusations against him come a long time ago.

“When did @petrogustavo learn about the legal syndications that are made to Piedad Córdoba? Why are you asking him to marginalise himself from the campaign now? What new information does Petro know and since when does he know it? ”, reads on the official Twitter of the politician of the New Liberalism.

In the same vein, Julián Rodríguez Sastoque, councilman of Bogotá and member of Sergio Fajardo's campaign, spoke: “1. What did Petro negotiate with Piedad Córdoba to give him the seat in the Senate even though he knew his records and investigations beforehand? 2. What did you find out now for after the election and before the first round to distance yourself from it? ”.

For his part, in defense of the decision of the leader of Pact Histórico, Iván Cepeda cited an article in El Espectador stating that the DEA is intervening in Colombia's political campaigns.

“Candidate Petro said that when he was at an event with Piedad Córdoba, he learned that in the room where he and his followers were there were two foreigners who had expressed their intention to provide resources to their coalition,” said the Senator of the Democratic Pole.

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