Gustavo Petro criticized a senator's attitude towards Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo during a police promotion event to which, he said, the minister had been invited. He also stated that the senator had asked Jaramillo to leave the Senate chamber, despite Petro's belief that he should have been awarded the Cruz de Boyacá, a distinction he claimed to have granted him. Petro attributed improvements in citizens' perceptions of the Police to his government and said that 17,000 patrol officers had been promoted to subinspectors, that their salaries had been increased, and that officers linked to alias Pitufo had been removed from the institution. He added that Jaramillo had pushed for improvements in healthcare for police officers and their families and contributed to building the hospital in southern Bogotá. He claimed that Abelardo had returned the Police's medications to the Char clan. The president maintained that during his government, thefts and domestic violence had decreased and linked this reduction to lower poverty and hunger rates and an increase in the minimum vital wage. He also stated that improvement in economic conditions strengthened families. Petro asked when police and farmers had been seen uprooting coca crops on thousands of hectares planted during Iván Duque's government. He said that trust between the two groups was key to taking Colombia out of drug trafficking. Finally, he accused Abelardo of handing 16 key positions in different branches of the Government to people from his own office to facilitate the massive return of goods seized through asset forfeiture. Petro argued that this situation suggested the construction of a "mafia state" capable of unleashing another Colombian holocaust. #PolíticaColombiana #DerechosHumanos #Progreso (translated)
