The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, has distanced himself tonight, during his first statements made in Bogotá on the tour that will take him through different South American countries, from the controversy that has been generated in Colombia by the express nationalization of the former minister and former ERC deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia Xavier Vendrell and businessman Manuel Grau, also linked to sovereignism. Both received Colombian nationality expressly with a decree issued by President Gustavo Petro.
Aragonès has asserted that “the relationship between Catalonia and Colombia is very intense, regardless of the political affiliation or political sympathies of the people involved. There are Catalan parliamentarians of Colombian origin and also people who are leading institutional projects in Catalonia who They are born in Colombia and, in the same way, it is natural that the other way around can also happen,” he explained in statements collected by the Efe news agency.
Vendrell, former ERC organization secretary, is involved in the so-called Voloh operation, which investigates the diversion of public funds to organize protests and other events in the independence project. He met the now president when he was mayor of Bogotá and a recent journalistic investigation indicates that he was an advisor to Petro during his two presidential campaigns.
In an interview with the local magazine Cambio, Petro distanced Vendrell from corruption and assured that the process that persecutes him “has to do with politics.” “Vendrell is one of the actors who promoted the referendum for independence together with several people I know personally and are my friends, who were the Catalan government,” said the Colombian president.
Before becoming president, Petro showed his public support for the independence process on several occasions, but since he took up his current position he has maintained a prudent silence on the subject and has opted for relations with the Spanish government. Oriol Junqueras, president of Esquerra Republicana and another of the leaders of the procés, also visited Colombia and met with Petro.
Aragonès has indicated that he appreciates “all the gestures of sensitivity towards the situation in Catalonia”, but has insisted that this visit is about seeking “an institutional relationship between Catalan and Colombian institutions beyond political opinions and approaches politicians that the governments of the day have”.
