President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, in Bocas de Satinga, Nariño department, Colombia, on May 13, 2023. Photo: AFP

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, will march on Wednesday with his followers in a mobilization of support for the social reforms that are discussed in Congress, and in the midst of the political convulsion that has arisen within his Government.

This demonstration has been called the 'Taking of Bogotá for social reforms', but it will also be held in parallel in other Colombian cities. The call was made by trade unions, pension and communal confederations, students, among others.

On his Twitter account, the leader of the Historic Pact wrote the trill: "The people return to the streets. The people respect each other and do not give up!", accompanied by the image of a group of demonstrators.

The people return to the streets. ! The people respect each other and do not give up! pic.twitter.com/4fh64U4RfO

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 7, 2023

The rally will serve the Colombian president as a thermometer of his support, since not only will he defend his political project, but he has also asked that it be a march against "impunity."

In recent weeks, the Colombian president has repeatedly warned about the alleged plans of business sectors and the right, which would seek to give him a "soft coup" to remove him from office.

Petro has also referred to the impunity that persists in the country, since he considers that the organs of justice have not investigated or sanctioned the people who have used their links with drug trafficking and paramilitarism to make politics and have a monopoly on violence.

The ruling Historical Pact published in a statement its reasons for participating and calling on its militants to march, and called for "defending democracy and reforms."

In the text, the coalition joined the rejection of the "attempts to destabilize" democracy, institutions and the Government, about which Petro has warned on several occasions.

The progressive bloc and leftist parties also expressed their repudiation of the actions of "sectors of the opposition" that, in their opinion, seek to "prevent the advance of the legislative agenda and social reforms" using the "political moment" that the country is experiencing.

Colombian public opinion has recently been shaken by the so-called 'nannygate', which involves the former head of the president's office, Laura Sarabia, and which gained more steam by the accusations of the former ambassador of Bogotá in Caracas, Armando Benedetti, about an alleged illegal financing in the Petro campaign.

So far, at least three complaints against the president have been filed in the Accusations Committee of the House of Representatives, while the Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General's Office opened investigations against Sarabia and the former Colombian ambassador to Venezuela.

The day before, the Single Confederation of Workers (CUT), the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC) and the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) issued a joint statement in which they raised the aspects that stand out from the health, labor and pension reforms.

For these unions, "the debate on the three reforms is increasingly critical." They affirm that this situation occurs in the context of a media campaign and procrastination encouraged by the economic and political powers of the extreme right.

For health, pensions, job stability.
Against impunity
To the street.
Give it an RT with desire. pic.twitter.com/eO9u0nTJj5

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 7, 2023

On the health reform, they consider that it proposes to "recover rights" and "take out of business" the Health Promoting Entities (EPS) and private pension funds, with the aim that it is the State that assumes greater control.

Regarding labor, they indicated that they support the proposal to reduce outsourcing and intermediation, the "full exercise of union freedoms, the rights of association and collective bargaining," the regulation of rural, domestic and delivery platforms, and the recovery of the night surcharge and holidays.

With regard to pensions, they emphasize that it seeks to increase pension coverage and serve the most vulnerable people through income in old age.

(With information from RT en Español and TeleSur)

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