A clash erupted this Thursday, August 28, between President Gustavo Petro and former Colombian Defense Minister and ambassador to the United States, Juan Carlos Pinzón.
The Colombian president responded to the former official, regarding a phrase he said in conversation with El Debate de SEMANA:"Colombia doesn't need dogs that bark, it needs dogs that bite."
And later, he said:"What I had to deal with in life was an Armed Forces that bit and persecuted. Of course, that requires a lot of work."
“For example, when I became minister—and I will do so at some point, if that's what the country needs from me—we created an entire strategic review and innovation committee. And from there, we not only implemented operational innovations, designed new operations, and strengthened capabilities. We strengthened intelligence, we strengthened technology, we strengthened force protection, we strengthened its well-being, we strengthened its legal protection,” the former Minister of Defense explained.
Then, the head of state reacted on his personal X account: “In Colombia there are no soldiers who bark. There are soldiers who die fighting, which does not consist of biting like a beast, but of being a humane and brave fighter.”
“Those soldiers who die and those who do not die are winning the war against the mobsters that they strengthened under previous governments. There are already 10 fallen in the ranks of Iván Mordisco, including the boss, in Guaviare,” insisted the Colombian president.
In Colombia there are no soldiers who bark. There are soldiers who die fighting, which is not about biting like a beast, but about being a humane and brave fighter.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) August 28, 2025
Those soldiers who die and those who do not die, are winning the war against the mobsters who strengthened them in previous… https://t.co/LtpeXIkHJS
Furthermore, the former Minister of Defense advanced in SEMANA: “Because Colombia is not going to go backwards, nor is it about looking back, nor is it about looking in the rearview mirror. We must confront today's problem. Problems are solved by thinking strategically and also by understanding the hard blows we dealt to terrorist leaders. 128 terrorist leaders were neutralized during my time as minister.”
"No one has that record, no one in the country. So I leave you with this final message. My final message here is: strength, but development; opportunities for the people; education to avoid conscription; income for the people; roads. All of this is a package deal, and it's how we have to recover the country. Colombia lost that opportunity, I feel, in the 2016 Havana agreements, where what was done well was halted and what was missing was never done," concluded Juan Carlos Pinzón.
