Less than 24 hours after the opposition's response, in which the representative of Cambio Radical, Lina María Garrido, intervened and criticized the management of President Gustavo Petro during his three years in government, the congresswoman spoke out again.
For the outgoing second vice president of the House, the president has dedicated himself to maintaining a discourse of proposals, but without taking concrete actions.
“President Gustavo Petro brandished his promises of social and environmental justice, that he would sign a peace treaty with the ELN in three months, and that if he didn't achieve that, he would resign from the presidency because it didn't help make peace. So, what we've seen so far is a complete inconsistency and actions that are completely contrary to what he promised during his campaign,” Garrido told EL TIEMPO.
During her speech in the House plenary session, the representative assured that she voted for President Petro in 2022, but that she regrets it.
“I have never denied that. That is why, publicly, at the moment I exercised my right to vote, I said it: I do so with hope, without fear , because those were the promises he made to my department of Arauca,” he stated.
And he added: “Gustavo Petro simply used all that pretense of being a feminist, an economist, and a transparent person, just to win the election. But his government is full of corruption, of criminality, of all that stuff that stinks and has people desperate.”
The congresswoman also addressed the public order situation and the threats she has received from the ELN and FARC dissidents.
“Today I have my security arrangements because a tutela (protective action) has upheld my right to them. Because, if it were up to the director of the National Protection Unit, he would have undermined and dismantled them. So, today I must tell the country that, in addition to the two threats from the ELN and the two threats from the FARC dissidents, of course I distrust the government. It has already been proven, with what happened with Miguel Uribe, that this government is not even capable of guaranteeing the free exercise of power to the opposition,” Garrido said.
She also reported that she has been the victim of harassment on social media and threats following her intervention.
"After what happened yesterday, I want Colombians to understand the risk I've taken. It's a life decision, of course, but they should also know that today I feel threatened by Gustavo Petro's government. No sooner had that response ended than they, with their digital army, began threatening and abusing me," the Cambio Radical representative asserted.
Today, Garrido was involved in a confrontation with the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, who assured that he would file a criminal complaint against the representative for libel and slander.
"Due to her bad faith, inaccuracies, and lies in the media and on social media, I have filed a criminal complaint against her for libel and slander," the minister wrote.
In an interview with EL TIEMPO, the congresswoman asserted that she is not afraid of such actions and that the government was"hurt" by what she expressed during her speech.
“I'm not a woman afraid of that. I know how to stand up to what I say, because I say it, and here I am. I wish he'd said something to me yesterday when he was standing right in front of me, that he'd had the courage, that courage with which he pulls out knives and abuses, like he abused Laura Sarabia in the audio recordings. But yesterday he said absolutely nothing, he didn't even look me in the eye. So, for me, that's simply part of the job; it makes people uncomfortable that my voice is heard and I speak the truth.”
