As if President Gustavo Petro didn’t have enough problems in the United States, another one erupted on Thursday, October 23: Former Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva—one of his staunchest critics—announced that he had filed a complaint against the Colombian president with U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “I courteously request that you investigate Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego, current President of the Republic of Colombia, for having engaged in conduct in the United States of America that possibly violated rigorous norms, statutes, and laws subject to his jurisdictional control, so that, if appropriate, appropriate measures may be taken,” Leyva requested.
He referred to the episode that the head of state starred in the streets of New York where, with a megaphone in hand, he asked the American Military Forces not to obey President Donald Trump. Leyva argued in his complaint:"After Petro's official intervention, in a space protected by diplomatic immunity that allowed him or allowed him to express himself freely, ignoring all modesty, already outside the UN premises, fully aware that what he was about to do was improper for his condition as head of a foreign state, he decided to address a street crowd, megaphone in hand and at the top of his lungs, with the purpose of requesting the armed forces of the United States to ignore the orders of President Donald J. Trump, their commander in chief." The former foreign minister recalled that Petro, in the American streets, pronounced:"Disobey President Trump and obey humanity”
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In his opinion,"such a request addressed by the President of Colombia to members of the active service of the public forces of a sovereign country such as the United States, constitutes criminal conduct subsumed by local norms, punishable under the same."
“What happened was recorded by President Trump himself, by the US State Department and other local authorities, and by media outlets in a wide variety of countries,” he stated.
And he continued: “Madam Attorney General: Mr. Petro has attempted to attract the attention of the entire world at the expense of President Donald J. Trump. This is for the purpose of portraying himself as a victim of his head of state, Madam Attorney General, of other US public servants, and of US politics in general. He had already attempted a similar claim, as you were able to appreciate after having assumed knowledge and assessment of the accusation that I presented to you, Madam Attorney General, on September 25.”
Leyva said,"President Petro believes he can continue plotting in his country as if it were a minor game. He is convinced that by making President Donald J. Trump and the United States of America the laughingstock of the moment, he will win applause and popularity internationally, just as he does in my country, Colombia. But he is wrong."
The former foreign minister stated in his complaint against Petro that "immunity has limits under international law." The openly irresponsible public statements or declarations by the President of Colombia on United States territory require a full investigation. These were not limited to mere political criticism; rather, they represented a clear and direct exhortation on his part to members of the U.S. military forces to violate their oath and disregard the chain of command.
Given this scenario, he requested that" the necessary investigations be opened to determine any violations of U.S. legal norms that President Petro may have committed. It must be established whether his conduct constitutes unlawful acts under federal laws or regulations in his country. And if so, that action be taken in accordance with the mandates of the United States of America."
This request lacks levity, he added. “It is rooted in the need for peace, for the proper application of the law, and for the necessary maintenance of normal and peaceful diplomatic relations that should be expected between Colombia and the United States of America. Gustavo Petro’s irresponsible, loose, and damaging rhetoric must end. Madam Attorney General: We demand swift and complete justice, in the manner that is expected of you.”
This Thursday, the former diplomat also addressed the president, who had been his boss for several months."Gustavo Petro: No more man, no more," he said. He compared the twilight of his term to one of the stories in one of Gabriel García Márquez's literary works.
“To conclude this public letter, Gustavo Petro, allow me to postscript a timid and respectful part, edited by me, of the first of the Twelve Pilgrim Tales by our beloved Gabo, written in his last eighteen years. For the patriotic moment we are living in, let us take it as a kind of sad premonition. If you haven’t read them, Gustavo, you are close to being able to do so,” he emphasized.
"It captures in just a few pages the end of a head of state, defeated, lost, far from his homeland."Bon Voyage, Mr. President" was the title Gabo gave it. Speaking of which, excerpts from the story could be taken as a literary epithet for a life that, in my opinion, was very painful," he concluded.
