#petro government

[reasonsforhope]

"After its first-ever left-wing presidential administration took charge of negotiating permanent peace with the socialist FARC rebels, Colombia’s forests are feeling the effects with a 26% reduction in deforestation in the conflict areas.

These dense, biodiverse rainforests that are a part of the Amazon in places, and independent of it in others, have been one of the many victims of the country’s civil war.

However, President Gustavo Petro is conducting peace negotiations that put the environment first with around 20 splinter factions of the FARC guerillas, who have responded positively.

De-facto leadership in the conflict areas in the forested state of Gauviare has instituted its own deforestation moratorium, and an estimated 50,000 hectares of rainforest have been saved as a result.

“This is really dramatic,” conservationist Rodrigo Botero told The Guardian. “It’s the highest reduction in deforestation and forest fires that there has been in two decades.”

The Guardian recently covered these peace negotiations alongside a delegation from Norway which included that country’s environment minister, Espen Barth Eide.

“What I’m hearing, seeing, and feeling in these meetings is that there is an enhanced understanding that you cannot build a new Colombia on the basis of the further deterioration of nature, so you have to find an economic, social, political, inclusive process that is more respectful towards nature than before,” Barth told the English paper.

Often flying under the radar when compared to its neighbor Brazil, Colombia is the second-most biodiverse country on Earth, and the most biodiverse in terms of bird life.

It’s the 25th-highest country in the world for Forest Integrity Index score (8.26) and boasts twice as many square miles of highly-intact forest than of poorly-intact forest, almost all of which resides in the conflicted states of Amazonia, Caquetá, and Putumayo.

If the Petro government can really put the brakes on the conversion of forests into pastureland for cattle, it would be helping to save one of the most valuable tropical forest ecosystems on Earth."

-via Good News Network, 7/14/23

[itisasadness]

Because I have seen people spreading misinformation about the Colombia-United States situation. The issue from Colombia's part was never about not wanting to accept repatriated citizens. The issue was that they would be received if they were returned with dignified and fair treatment, not as criminals.

That was clear from the first moment.

A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves.

That's why I turned back the US military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants.

I cannot allow migrants to remain in a country that does not want them; but if that country sends them back, it must be with dignity and respect for them and for our country. We will receive our fellow citizens on civilian planes, without treating them like criminals. Colombia is respected.

The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals.

I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory.

The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.

I will never allow Colombians to be brought in handcuffs on flights. Marco, if officials from the Foreign Ministry allowed that, it would never have been under my direction.

I am a man of freedom, not of chains

The agreement that was reached was to bring the immigrants under fair conditions and with dignity, which was Petro's demand.

The official statement by the chancellery was:

The Government of Colombia reports that we have overcome the impasse with the Government of the United States.

In this context, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo and Ambassador Daniel García-Peña will travel to Washington, D.C., in the next few hours to hold high-level meetings to follow up on the agreements, the result of the joint work and exchange of diplomatic notes that took place today between the two governments.

We will continue to welcome Colombians who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens with rights.

The Colombian government, under the direction of President Gustavo Petro, has the presidential plane ready to facilitate the return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country today in the morning on deportation flights.

Colombia confirms that diplomatic channels of dialogue will be maintained to guarantee the rights, national interest and dignity of our citizens.

That was the agreement that was reached. The sanctions imposed by both countries would be discarded, Colombia would receive the repatriated, but ONLY if they were guaranteed decent treatment upon their return to the country.

[nando161mando]

"The bombs in Gaza are not fired by simple Israeli soldiers: it is big capital in the world, centralized, coordinated, influencing the governments... The Nazis are in power, they rise through financial capital, they manage to run the government of the USA."

During his acceptance speech of the Great Medal of the State of Palestine, Colombian President Gustavo Petro delivered a powerful speech, deconstructing the West's unlimited support for Israel.

[sayruq]

Colombia's president Gustavo Petro has signed an order suspending coal exports to Israel

“With Colombian coal they make bombs to kill the children of Palestine,” said Sunday Colombian president Gustavo Petro in his X account, echoing the decree published by the media. Thus, “exports to the State of Israel of thermal coal” are prohibited, according to the decree, which was signed by several ministers, including the chancellor, Luis Gilberto Murillo, on 14 August and will enter into force next week, despite the fact that the ban was already announced by Petro in June. Fuels and products of extractive industries, including coal, are the main export of Colombia, and between January and June they have cost the country 11,689 million dollars, with the United States being the main destination.

[saywhat-politics]

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures to be taken against Colombia after its government rejected two flights carrying migrants.

Trump said the measures were necessary, because the decision of Colombian President Gustavo Petro “jeopardized” national security in the U.S.

BREAKING: Trump has just announced a 25% tariff (will increase to 50% next week) on all goods imported from Colombia in response to the Colombian government's refusal to accept two flights of deported immigrants.

This move is expected to lead to price hikes for American consumers on everyday essentials and commodities, including gasoline, coffee, flowers, precious stones and metals, trees, fruits, nuts, and crude petroleum. The economic impact of these tariffs could ripple through multiple industries, driving up costs for households across the country.

[vague-humanoid]

DR Congo Protests Throw a Wrench in the Western-Backed War of Pillage

On The Freedom Side LIVE, Thursday, 1/30  at 3pm ET/12pm PT, hosts Rania Khalek and Eugene Puryear are joined by special guests:

Kambale Musavuli from the Center for Research on the Congo joins the show to discuss the rapidly escalating conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo as fighting between the Rwandan backed-M23 rebel group and the Congolese army (FARDC) intensifies in the major city of Goma. Musavuli will discuss the latest updates as well the protests that erupted across the country at US & EU embassies over the West’s complicity in the brutal proxy war for the DR Congo’s vast mineral wealth.

Abubaker Abed, Palestinian journalist and commentator in Gaza, joins the show to discuss Palestinians’ historic return to their devastated homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday after over a year of genocidal war. Reporting firsthand, Abed will explain how this historic mass return marks a powerful act of Palestinian resistance and is seen as a significant step toward reclaiming all occupied territories.

Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute, joins the show to unpack a critical question: As Donald Trump’s return to the White House emboldens far-right movements across the North Atlantic, do these forces actually challenge neoliberalism—or are they merely its latest iteration? Prashad will argue that the far right, despite its populist rhetoric, remains tied to the neoliberal economic and security policies they claim to oppose.

Hala Jaber Leb, award-winning Beirut-based journalist, joins the show to discuss Israel's violation of its ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. Israel continues to bomb southern Lebanon and refuses to withdraw their forces despite the 60-day ceasefire deadline. Thousands of Lebanese residents have been returning to their homes in the South in defiance of Israel’s occupation.

Doug Henwood, economic journalist and host of the podcast Behind the News, joins the show to discuss how Trump has stacked his administration with crypto entrepreneurs, launched his second cryptocurrency, and pledged to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet.” Henwood will explain the danger of Trump’s actions and the increasing threat of expanded US government involvement in crypto, an industry rife with risks and scams.

Zoe Alexandra, Editor of Peoples Dispatch, joins the show to discuss how Colombian President Gustavo Petro stood up to Trump over the inhumane treatment of Colombian migrants deported from the US. Alexandra will explain the tense diplomatic impasse between Washington and Bogotá and discuss how progressive governments in Latin America are fighting for the respect and dignity of migrants amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

[thedialoguedilemma]

President Donald Trump threatened Colombia with economic sanctions today almost sparking a trade war after it refused a deportation flight from the United States.

He has threatened 25% tariffs on all imports coming into the United States from Colombia, a travel ban and sanctions on visas for Colombian government officials and banking/financial restrictions.

Colombia is a coffee and fuel trade partner for the United States.

The Colombian President Gustavo Petro has reversed course and will accept the flight sending his own Presidential plane to pick them up. Donald Trump continues to strain relationships between key allies of the United States and this is just the beginning.

[theonion]

Colombia President Claims Cocaine No Worse Than Whiskey

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said during a government meeting that cocaine is “not worse than whiskey” and that it’s only illegal because it comes from Latin America. What do you think?

[enriquemzn262]

The wildest story is happening right now in Colombia: A couple and the girl’s mom went to climb the Nevado del Tolima mountain as an end of the year celebration, but during the ascend the boyfriend sadly passed away due to mountain sickness, and from that there should be nothing remarkable about it.

Well, since it’s the first mountaineering death in the country in years, in became national news, so curious people began to dig more and more details about it:

>When the dude got sick, his girl and her mom decided to leave him behind alone in a tent while they went to reach the peak of the mountain and take a ton of selfies.

>He was actually bleeding from his nose and even started to secrete pus when they left him alone, he apparently asked them not to, but they needed to take those photos

>They needed to because they were “influencers”

>They were influencers just so they could constantly plug their OF account

>Said OF featured both the couple AND THE MOM

>Sometimes only the women would be featured in there, although I don’t know nor want to at which extent

>The dude was actually fucking both women too, and apparently that was also a feature in the OF

So now online searches are plagued with the leaked OF content, to the point you can find it by just typing the name of the mountain on Twitter, and the tragedy and neglect behind the dude’s death has been completely overshadowed by the level of degeneracy found behind his love life.

My tinfoil hat self is honestly believing this is a new psyops by the Colombian government to distract from the Catatumbo guerrillas uprising that has already costed 100 lives and thousands of displaced civilians, but it’s just so damn specifically perverted not to be a real story.

I can’t be blamed for thinking that though, as there’s a real government-backed psyops going on right now in the form of murals popping up in many cities talking about some victims no one is really sure if they’re even real, but since if they are they’re a consequence of the previous administration, the new one is desperately pushing for that narrative, all the while we’re actively getting new victims of the conflict, and it’s all because Petro refused to believe guerrillas were nothing more than drug cartels masquerading as left wing revolutionaries.

Don’t worry Americans, you’re not alone in baffling government decisions at the start of the year.

Man, I think I lost the sauce of this post, but anyway, fuck Petro!

[labelleizzy]

Update from Democracy Action Network:

Despite his dreams, Trump is not a King. Marisa Kabas may have again broken the news. The Washington Post writes: "The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash."

He didn't back down because it was a good idea. It wasn't a change of heart. It wasn't a feint. It was a genuine administrative coup that — for now — has been thwarted.

He backed down because people pushed back — getting media to do their job and alert us to an impending problem, calling Senators who (more or less) found their spines, lawyers challenging the coup, telling the story of the many who would suffer under such an order, joining last-minute DC protests…

We'd like you to pause before your inner cynic speaks up (the one that says "he'll try another version" or "look at all the other things he's destroyed and people suffering").

The point is stunningly important: Trump can lose when we fight. He is not invincible and he is not all powerful.

It doesn't mean we will win every fight. But it does mean that anyone who is telling you it's hopeless is wrong. Folks need to get this message: our feelings are valid, but any conclusion that says it's over is wrong. They, too, will get a chance to join and we hope they do.

To us, the biggest stories not being told are the many, many acts of resistance all over. We wish we had journalists covering this. For example:

Teachers rejecting ICE raids ("we jump in front of bullets for our students")

Folks rejecting President-in-action-but-not-elected Elon Musk's potentially illegally sent and possibly illegal buyout offer to 2 million government workers (comments are fire: "I'll be honest, before that email went out, I was looking for any way to get out of this fresh hell. But now I am fired up to make these goons as frustrated as possible, RTO be damned. Hold the Line!")

National trainings teaching people how to organize and strengthen community when workplace raids happen (we recommend these!) or Teen Vogue's story on ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood — Here’s What to Know

Lawyers standing up for the rule of law — like 22 state attorneys general sued Trump over birthright order or ACLU suing fast-track deportation policy or Quakers suing to stop ICE out of worship services

The internet spamming the DEI snitch tipline

Greenlanders refusing to give up free healthcare and education and rejecting any US takeover or Colombian President Petro staring down Trump and winning the "dignity" of returnees he asked for (the US media let Trump claim victory — but international press report this very differently, like here or here or read Petro's full statement)

Groups like Civil Service Strong helping government workers sort through their decisions in these trying times and the many people finding their path in these times.

Yes, we know the overwhelm is still there. There's a reason. It's called Shock and Awe. The goal is chaos and constant crisis to push through radical changes. The goal is to push our cognitive limits to overload, so we get paralyzed.

One implication of this: to stay active, many of us will need to limit our attention. Doing so is not a rejection of other issues. It's that in a time of rapid chaos, none of us can do it all. Let's give ourselves that permission. And then let's extend that grace our allies — for not joining the causes most central to us or for picking a strategy that we think isn't most effectual. It's okay to pick your lane and focus on that. In fact, we need you to. (We have this video to help remind people of different paths they may take.)

An overwhelmed teacher asked us what they should be doing to help their students. After an extended conversation that included their basic rights to keep out ICE, it came down to this: "The thing they most fear is an educated population. Teach your students." Do what you do best. We knew there would be a lot of loss in this time, and there is. We'll have to keep planting seeds for a better future.

We want to thank Democracy Forward for its leading lawsuits. Again, thanks to journalists like Marisa Kabas (an independent journalist at The Handbasket) and Anand Giridharadas (who quoted us in The Ink). Please support our independent journalists who did not downplay this administrative coup and raised their voices right away. Thanks Rebecca Solnit who first pulled our attention to this.

Some things we're going to go do: Eat some ice cream, pet a cat, and tap some maple trees with our kid. And then keep fighting the best we can.

Warmly,

- Choose Democracy

[dostoyevsky-official]

the trump tariffs were rejected as a real idea by many commentators because they seemed nuts, even though trump started the china trade war biden continued. as of today, the tariffs are real: 25% on all colombian products (along with visa sanctions on the petro government). no coffee and no flowers for valentine's day

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Steven Beschloss at America, America:

Anyone who’s spent time with an abusive narcissist understands the dilemma: If you just go along to get along, you’ll never escape their grip. And if you confront them, they will do anything they can to make your life a living hell—until you get away or they leave forever.

America is trapped right now in this ugly nexus, thanks to millions of Americans who identified with Donald Trump’s anger and hatreds or didn’t comprehend the dangerous choice they were making. But we have a chance to overcome this dark chapter with a clear, fearless opposition. That will require elected officials refusing to work with him and abandoning the idea that collaboration is the only way they can mitigate the damage he will cause or accomplish something themselves. The more they give him, the more he will take. The more they communicate that they accept his dominance and respect his power, the more he will exploit their vulnerability, particularly because he sadistically relishes harming and demeaning others. We saw that dynamic play out yesterday when the president of Colombia initially rejected two military planes carrying deported migrants, demanding that the U.S. create a protocol that treats these people with dignity before they would be repatriated. It was a moment when a significant trading partner and ally reminded all of us what we are fighting for.

“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said. “That is why I returned the U.S. military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants.” Petro went on to say that his country would receive these citizens only if they are transported “in civilian planes, without being treated like criminals.” The bellicose, over-the-top response from Trump? He would immediately put a 25 percent tariff on Colombia and issue a travel ban revoking the visas of Colombian government officials as well as their allies. “These measures are just the beginning,” Trump threatened in a Truth Social post.

Could Trump have picked up a telephone and had a simple conversation? Of course, he could have and should have. It’s not like there wasn’t an easy solution. Colombia received 475 flights with migrants deported from the U.S. between 2020 and 2024, according to the Associated Press, including 124 in 2024. But the abusive Trump preferred to bully this strategically important ally, which buys billions of dollars in U.S. exports, including corn which is important to U.S. farming states. Reluctant to escalate the unnecessary dispute, Petro’s government subsequently announced that the country would make available their own presidential planes to pick up the migrants and provide them “dignified conditions.” Classic Trump case: Escalate a minor dispute that could have been resolved calmly and simply. Exploit the “crisis” he created to pound his chest and pretend that it demonstrates how powerful he is. “I have directed my Administration to take…urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump posted.

This extreme reaction concerned less than 200 migrants, but late last night Petro reversed course to avoid a trade war by allowing even military aircraft. And the false Trump response, delivered by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again.” Donald Trump doesn’t care about or respect laws. He doesn’t care about or believe in American democratic values and principles like equality, diversity and justice. He rejects free speech and despises the peaceful assembly of those who disagree with him. He is bored by the details of policy and governance, belittles the value of expertise, only wants attention and spectacle, and is determined to surround himself with sycophants who will bow down to him. He doesn’t care about or comprehend the pain he causes other human beings. He is more than ready to use political violence to get what he wants.

He will never make an effort to unify the nation. He will never rely on inspiration, only stoke fear, seek to intimidate and threaten violence. He will never work to gain the trust of the majority. Is this an American president? Are we obliged—are elected Democrats obliged—to treat such a man with respect? This is the person who pardoned over 1,500 convicted felons who attacked the U.S. Capitol; just this weekend he invited the remorseless Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes—freshly released from prison and his 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy—to appear behind him in a Nevada rally.

Should Democrats find ways to work with Trump or oppose him at every turn? Is there any reason to believe he will do anything to make lives better rather than commit acts to glorify himself and enrich himself and his billionaire cronies by stealing from the wealth created by hard-working Americans? As I see it, going along with even some of Trump’s policies in order to minimize the damage represents collaborating with a man bent on the destruction of American democracy and aiding his effort. I understand the decision of 13 Senate Democrats (many from border states) to sign a letter to Majority Leader John Thune, offering to work with him “in good faith” to craft border security and immigration legislation. But do they really think Trump will ever work with them in good faith, especially as he’s focused on mass deportation, building a wall (again) and demonizing refugees and Democrats?

As the transgressions and degradations and the acts of corruption and criminality mount—and, yes, they already have been at an alarming pace meant to shock the unsuspecting—we should demand that Democratic leaders and anyone who is committed to overcoming this dark chapter in our history refuse to work with this regime. That will become even more important as he is surrounded by dangerously reckless cabinet secretaries and others in leadership positions motivated to carry out his agenda, satisfy his hunger for vengeance and dismantle the very government programs and agencies they have sworn to serve. Soon the deeply unfit Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will likely be joined by the retribution-minded Kash Patel at the FBI, the Putin-supporting Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “running” Health and Human Services.

[...] We have to prove that we will not be drowned, not just to be resilient in the face of hostile forces, but capable of confronting and overcoming them.

In the first week of 47’s reign of terror, he has rapidly slid the country into the toilet.

[secular-jew]

I sort of forgot about Colombia which is a beautiful country, sadly, corrupted by the drug cartels. But like all failed South American states, Colombia has fallen into disarray, so much so that many of its best people have left, and the remaining seem to have elected the worst possible type of Marxist leader, who was formerly a terrorist, as ex head of gorilla group, M-19. His campaign has allegedly been financed by the rich drug cartels.

Not surprisingly, the dark side of Marxism has partnered with Islamism, again. These authoritarian enterprises seem to make compatible bedfellows.

The government of Colombia has just announced it is breaking ties with Israel and is recalling their ambassador. Because diplomacy, Marxist style, means not engaging.

Columbia's first Marxist leftist president in the country's modern history, Gustavo Petro Urrego, was formerly the leader of the gorilla group M-19. He is currently under fire for taking illegal money from drug cartels, but has the audacity to accuse Israel of genocide.

We don't need you asshole leftist guerilla Marxists. Go away and stay away.

[probablyasocialecologist]

London did try to cobble together a three-part strategy for a sustainable, if vastly reduced, postwar empire: first, consolidate smaller colonies into cost-effective confederations; next, control their exports to capture hard-currency profits; and finally, cling to military bases critical for imperial defense. For instance, it merged nine sultanates and two crown colonies into the Federation of Malaya to control the US dollars earned from its rubber exports, which provided, by 1952, 35 percent of Britain’s net balance of payments with the dollar area. So critical was this cash flow that London dispatched 50,000 troops, who would fight for a decade to crush a communist revolt and keep Malaya in the British Commonwealth. Similarly, the Central African Federation combined three colonies to secure the dollars from Zambia’s copper exports while supporting a small number of white settlers in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia), who had been allocated 50 million acres of farmland, compared to only 29 million for Africans. In the Persian Gulf, British Petroleum explored for oil while British advisers led seven sheiks into a federation that later became the petro-rich United Arab Emirates. Over the longer term, the Federation of Malaya and the United Arab Emirates proved relatively stable independent states, while their Central African counterpart broke apart, after mass protests and inept colonial repression, into the nations of Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Alfred W. McCoy, To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change

[mimosita]

Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, condemned Isr*el for the genocide they are committing and Isr*el government got angry and stopped "security exports to Colombia" (weapons and what not. mind that Isr*eli soldiers trained far-right paramilitaries here to commit massacres, etc).

I guess they thought they'll make him retract himself but he answered "If foreign relations with Isr*el have to be suspended, we suspend them. We do not support genocide."