The far-right presidential hopeful in Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, has accused the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, this Monday of "continuing to campaign" ahead of the presidential elections, the second round of which is scheduled for June 21.
"Petro continues to campaign. He never made the transition from criminal to politician, he doesn't care about the law. But worse than that, those who should enforce the law are protecting him today, they are bought," De la Espriella stated in a message disseminated on social media.
The statements by the candidate of the Defensores de la Patria movement come after Petro denounced being "personally attacked" by the far-right figure and defended himself by stating he had not stolen "a single peso of public funds" nor "committed any crime."
"I am promised jail just for my progressive political stance in favor of the people," he pointed out, adding that this is what happens with projects like the one that, according to him, would be "behind Abelardo (de la Espriella)," which would be "the same one that was behind (conservative former president Álvaro) Uribe, who already supports him: the mafioso fascism that has already governed Colombia."
Next, after asserting that he reached the presidency by having "risen up" "against them" and having "defeated them without a weapon," Petro appealed to the "moral obligation to humanity, to history, and to the life of Colombia" to "defeat mafioso fascism."
"We are going to win and defeat fascism," proclaimed the head of state, calling on "every democrat" to "defend democracy against the approaching death." "We are going to fight for the Life and libertarian History of Colombia. No one surrenders here, we are going to win here and I myself will lead the way," he emphasized.
In this context, the president called on "all" Colombian youth to "go out and vote en masse as never before" to protect "their own lives." "If the tigers (De la Espriella's electoral alias) really came to Colombia, they would kill the living species that exist and human beings. Let's not be foolish, we don't need foreigners who don't live in the country but in Miami and Italy and who only think of revenge like the Italian 'squifos' and of greed for themselves," he concluded.