The Petro-Trump meeting seemed positive despite the coded rhetoric and general statements delivered by the Colombian president during the press conference held at the Colombian Embassy in the United States.
Germán Ayala Osorio*
The somewhat fawning tone of President Donald Trump’s response about how the meeting went forms part of the positive interpretations that the press and political figures are making on social media.
Beyond the topics discussed during the meeting, and the mechanisms agreed for launching the technical work groups designed with a view to resolving the differences in handling issues like drug trafficking and the role of Colombia in imposing the Trump administration’s current patronage of Venezuela, once again, the “Uribistic” right (those aligned with former President Alvaro Uribe) has suffered a political beating. This is because its main representatives were expecting or dreaming of a catastrophic outcome from the meeting between the two leaders: more than one person was fantasising about seeing Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, dressed in orange and imprisoned like Nicolás Maduro Moros.
The efforts made to smear and delegitimise Petro’s government by the mayors of Medellín and Cali, as well as María Fernanda Cabal and Vicky Dávila, among other political figures, during their trips to Washington, proved unsuccessful judging by the meeting itself. Also, according to what the Colombian president said, due to delivering key information, including names, about the international drug lords who benefit from the production of cocaine in Colombia and who have most certainly been connected to members of the local political and economic elite.
Undoubtedly, Trump’s affable tone and Marco Rubio’s silence should not be accepted as part of an unshakeable political victory for the Colombian delegation. The Big Sheriff of the White House is not exactly a trustworthy man; he is unpredictable, half-crazy and easily influenced by those in his own Republican ranks and the always-subservient followers of the Colombian right wing, who benefit from the fine networks of corruption tied to the cocaine trade and the binational interests in the manufacture and sale of weapons and gear to fuel the Colombian internal armed conflict.
If Petro has his visa reinstated and if the American authorities take him off the “Clinton List” (Office of Foreign Assets Control), nobody from the opposition will be able to deny the positive outcome from the meeting between the two presidents. A critical matter that will also serve to measure the positive or negative impact of the meeting is tied to the electoral strategies that are being pushed by the Oval Office in the country’s presidential elections.
If Trump goes public in a few months with the name of the candidate that he would like to reach the Casa de Nariño (Colombian presidential residence), then we will know whether the meeting or the technical groups succeeded in eroding the “Uribistic” narrative in which communism, socialism or neocommunism has arrived in Colombia and that Iván Cepeda would be responsible for making the country “another Venezuela or another Cuba”. Undoubtedly, it is hoped that Petro has learned his lesson and from here on out will control himself and avoid further straining relations with the renowned paedophile.
Addendum: Journalist, Vicky Dávila, reported the existence of evidence that she says she has about the drug trafficker known as Pipe Tuluá, extradited to the United States by order of the President, regarding the delivery of money to Juan Fernando Petro in support of the President Petro campaign. This type of information is, once again, trying to tarnish the image of Gustavo Petro. Watch out.
*German Ayala: Political Scientist, Contemporary Humanities specialist and Social Communicator-Journalist. Author of the blog La otra tribuna.
(Translated by Donna Davison – Email: donna_davison@hotmail.com)
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