Petro accuses the United States of ruining “all the economies of the world”

From the subregion of Urabá, Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro delivered a speech in which he made several remarks against the United States.

He also responded to those who asked him to moderate his statements, spoke about the dollar rise, and proposed for Latin America to build a common agenda to face “the coming world crisis”.

The President reiterated that an economic crisis was looming and pointed out that: “The United States is ruining all the economies of the world (…) They make decisions to protect themselves, sometimes without thinking about what will happen through their measures”.

In this sense, he criticized the fact that the world economy, especially that of Latin American countries, has been affected by the recent decisions of the Central Bank, such as raising interest rates, which is why he called for the creation of a bloc of countries in the region to fight the recession.

“The Russians, the Ukrainians and, first and foremost, the Europeans have unleashed a war on their continent: a war for gas, for energy,” he explained, adding that “Latin America is being plundered,” according to Blu Radio.

He stated that “the economies of Latin American nations are being emptied. Latin America is being plundered. All our currencies are falling, not only the Colombian peso”.

The head of state spoke of the situation in the Darien Gap, the jungle between Panama and Colombia.

“They have walked 150,000 people in the last year. Colombians, Haitians, Venezuelans, and South Americans trying to break that wall of nature that practically shouts at us: don’t touch me.”

“This is the jungle. This wall crossed by thousands of people has caused disasters, sadness in this exodus of the South American population that tries to go to the North at any cost,” he said.

“The slavers of a new type rape women, kill, traffic with human beings of all nations using them, using them, simply for their dream of living better because they can no longer live better in their land,” Petro added.

The President said migrants “believe that there is a dream waiting for them there, and they leave our countries”.

And he questioned: “What about those people the United States does not want? They have put up machine guns, signs, and walls to keep them out. They are treated and mistreated when they arrive there if they arrive alive and well.”

“How many Colombians have died in this exodus? That country that does not want them should understand that to stop this exodus, we have to achieve more prosperity in our nations”.

Petro said that U.S. policy, because of the size of its economy, can destroy Latin American economies, but it can also help them.

“We believe it is time to help South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean as a whole”.

CHANGE IN THE APPROACH TO DRUG POLICY

As he has said before, President Petro emphasized the request he made to the U.S. to change the approach to drug policy.

He mentioned this in his speech to the plenary of the United Nations in September, where he pointed out that the fight against drug trafficking, as it has been advanced, failed.

If the fields of Colombia could produce food, if the peasantry could have fertile land, there would be less export of cocaine to the U.S., and the exodus of the population fleeing poverty, thirst, and misery in South America would diminish towards the United States, he said.