With a warm welcome, Thousands of people gathered in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá to receive the long-awaited speech by President Gustavo Petroin the midst of the mobilization on May 1 commemorating Worker’s Day and in support of the reforms of his Government.
“They are full houses in more than 60 cities in the country, the support we have received today, May 1“, This is how the president began his words before thousands of supporters.
“Perhaps the world can be summed up in a single word that vindicates the need for life and resistance, that word is called: Gaza, it is called Palestine, the girls and boys and babies who have died unjustly and informs that the government of change Tomorrow relations with Israel will be broken“said the president reiterating its support for Palestine and making this decision.
“Today we did not fill the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá, we practically filled the center of Bogotá“, looking excitedly at the large number of supporters who accompanied him.
“The more slave the worker is, the more employment there will be.“, criticizing, according to him, the traditional political class and past governments in labor matters.
Besides, He referred to the situation of Colombia as a representative of the OECD and its delicate situation, blaming former president Álvaro Uribe: “We are the OECD country, which has the longest working day of all countries, at the same time we are the country with the lowest productivity among nations, this is because Uribe was wrong from start to finish“, he mentioned
“The profit comes from productivity, that is, doing more things through technology, it is not by lengthening the working day, that is what France shows us, what Europe shows us, what the US shows us. It is by putting the brain in the production, not slavery, it is putting your brain in, not slavery, and that is what Colombian businessmen do not have“he said about the ways in which the country must improve its productivity.
“The health system must provide health for the entire Colombian population, because health is not a commodity, it is not like buying beer or fine whiskey, because whoever does not have the money will settle for chicha. The fundamental right should be health, this should not be a business“he stated about the transformation that the health sector must have.
Regarding the pension reform, Petro expressed his criticism of those who, according to him, took over his items: “Those who want to extend the working day do not want the pension or health to reach the old man either. They made pension law a bankers’ business. Only two bankers manage most of the savings of young workers. All this has been a deception with private funds, thus they ended the right to retire in Colombia“.
Besides, spoke about the injustice experienced by many of Colombia’s older adultswho according to him, saved and did not reach their pension: “3 million old men and women who worked their entire lives without being able to have hot soup, a bed, a smile and a piece of love today, and have ended up selling chocolates or Bon Ice on the streets without being able to live with dignity, thanks to those two hucksters“.
Gustavo Petro also spoke about the mobilization that the opposition carried out a week ago: “A few days ago some people came out and even former presidents came walking, some deceived, calling for the death of President Petro. They are angry at my skin color, they are angry that I was born in a humble home, they are angry that I would have studied in a public school and that I did not have the last name of the illustrious slavers of Colombia.“.
