“Either we change or we become extinct.” The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, on an official visit to Spain, made a vehement appeal yesterday from the rostrum of the Congress of Deputies to combat the climate crisis, a battle in which he is committed and for which he requested the complicity of Spain, to lead, from the rotating presidency of the EU, concrete measures for a technological and political change. “Politics that are based on science are what is called progressive,†he said.
“We have a mission, which is to save humanity,” insisted the Colombian president, who compared himself to “a Quixote” who has learned “to right wrongs.” He said his message sparks discussion and “attack by those who don’t want change,” referring to those who attack him in his country for promoting change and against climate change “deniers” in general. “Climate change is not a religion, it is science,” stressed Petro, who also said that, like the character of Cervantes, he has been accused of being crazy.
The Colombian president made his speech from the hemicycle rostrum, before deputies and senators from all groups, except for Vox, who left the Chamber before he began his speech. While the ultra-right slowly headed for the exit, the standing chamber applauded Petro, in a long ovation, lasting several minutes. “In 20 years as a parliamentarian, he had never had applause like this,” he thanked.
The Colombian leader defended the end of the hydrocarbon industry and changing the energy model from oil and gas to clean energy: “Sun, wind and water.” And he marked the July summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) as a key date.
Petro arrived in Madrid on Tuesday, but the official agenda started yesterday, when he was received with honors at the Royal Palace, as befits a state visit. Together with his wife, Verónica Alcocer, he arrived at the palace in a Rolls Royce that took them from the El Pardo palace, where they are staying. The kings Felipe and Letizia welcomed them in a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and representatives of the main State institutions.
In Congress, Petro was received by the president, Meritxell Batet, and the president of the Senate, Ander Gil, and greeted the members of the tables of both chambers, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, deputies and senators and the ministers who attended the event. In the afternoon, the mayor of Madrid, MartÃnez-Almeida, handed him the key to the city, in an act that Vox censored, calling Petro the “highest representative of drug dictatorships.”
The day closed with a gala dinner at the Royal Palace.
Petro meets Sánchez today in Moncloa and closes a visit focused on bilateral issues and the international agenda, in which the climate crisis has been very present. Spain is the second investment partner in Colombia and, according to Colombian diplomatic sources, Petro is very interested in attracting private investment for the energy transition that he wants for his country.
