Foro Madrid: Important voices in politics and civil society condemn the bloodbath in Colombia

During the IV Regional Meeting of Foro Madrid (Madrid Forum) in Asunción, Paraguay, a conversation took place about Colombia, a country going through a crisis of violence under the leadership of leftist President Gustavo Petro, following the attack on Senator Miguel Uribe last week, who is struggling between life and death after being shot in the head by a hitman.

Escuela Libertad Deputy Director Luisa Grisales opened the talk with a clear warning: "Gustavo Petro is Colombia's main disinformer. Behind him, there are his destabilizers."

Grisales not only spoke out against the president, but also against his ideological and communicational arms, whom she accused of acting beyond all limits of logic: "Petro's disinformers are the ideological arm advancing. They have used lies to push his popular consultation, bypassing Congress and senators. His followers behave like kamikazes: they don't mind spreading lies."

She also recalled the role of former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez as a reference and fighter for a democratic and free Colombia: "Uribe gave the country back to my generation. Today he, along with senators like Paola Holguín and María Fernanda Cabal, is a military target. We need real support networks to protect them,"

Uribe, who led Colombia in a turbulent era dominated by drug trafficking and guerrillas, managed to recover a large part of Colombian territory under an unprecedented security campaign in the South American country.

The conversation also included political scientist Ana Milena Zambrano, COO of Bridge US Group, who focused on the manipulation of the historical narrative by Petro and the Colombian left: "Because things are not said clearly, many young people do not know that Gustavo Petro has blood on his hands. Many do not know that he was a guerrilla fighter," she said.

Zambrano also called for citizen mobilization after the recent attack against Senator Uribe and the recent terrorist attacks in several areas of the South American country: "On Sunday we will march throughout Colombia to condemn the assassination attempt. We cannot allow the country's dark times to return."

Likewise, the political scientist affirmed that, during recent years, the Colombian left also distorted the historical narrative, wrongly calling the deal between the Colombian guerrillas FARC and the Colombian state during the era of former president Juan Manuel Santo a "peace process."

"If you didn't say 'FARC dissidents,' you were just another guerrilla. Nor could you call these guerrillas, who had become politicians, by their nicknames," said Zambrano.

From an economic point of view, María José Bernal, executive director of the business association FENALCO, strongly questioned how certain elements of the private sector act as accomplices of authoritarianism or do little or nothing to stop its advance: "Socialism is also achieved with the complicity of businessmen. There are those who ask for an enlargement of the state in order to meet their bureaucratic quota."

In contrast, Bernal vindicated the role of Colombian business leaders as the engine of the economy and social development: "Our main function is to generate wealth. We get up every day to bet on Colombia. We must not be afraid of freedom."

Bernal also recalled that behind every political decision there is "a business leader putting pressure," and that this pressure can be exerted for good or bad ideas "to go towards authoritarianism or towards freedom."

"We demand a small, efficient state that understands its limited role. To yield one more inch is our responsibility," the economist stated.

Lawyer and journalist Dmar Córdoba, who moderated the panel, closed the conversation with a reflection on the current state of Colombia.

"Petro calls business leaders in Colombia slavers and fascists. He is building a class war to divide society," claimed Córdoba, who went even further: "If Colombia is saved next year, the hope of saving Ibero-America, Venezuela and the whole hemisphere will be saved."

Finally, Cordoba recalled, "The silence of the good causes countries to be lost. We need to recover the truth to recover the region."