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A new discussion took place this Sunday between the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá and the government of President Iván Duque. Some officials accused President Claudia López of engaging in politics with the act of forgiveness and reconciliation in honor of the 10 people who died in the demonstrations on September 9 and 10 in the capital.
President Iván Duque was invited to the event, held in the Plaza de Bolívar. However, the president did not attend the event and Miguel Ceballos, High Commissioner for Peace, and Nancy Patricia Gutierrez, Presidential Counselor for Human Rights, attended on behalf of the government.
The absence of the president left criticism from several citizens in networks after the image of the empty chair with the name of the president that remained after the event.
There was also criticism from the mayor herself, who during the ceremony stated that forgiveness and reconciliation are “something that requires presence, it cannot be done in absentia.”
Some of the victims also referred to the absence of the president. “The president would have to be here, the police would have to be there to apologize,” said Maira Páez, a partner of Jaider Fonseca, killed by 4 shots.
But the mayor was accused of doing politics with the victims with the event this Sunday. One of the first to react was Hassan Nassar, the president’s communications chief.
“There is a big difference between an act of reconciliation and a political act,” Nassar wrote on his social media.
Hours later, Nassar published a video in which a man is observed placing the name of the president in said empty chair and accused López of committing an act without shame and without shame.
“Yes, there is politicking with the victims. They put the name on the chair after starting the event and knowing that the @ComisionadoPaz and the @ConsejeriaDDHH were representing the government. Shamelessly and shamelessly @ClaudiaLopez ”, the official tweeted.
Other comments were those of the Interior Minister, Alicia Arango. “Opportunism and show are not synonymous with reconciliation and forgiveness. The Defense Minister and the Director General of the Police publicly apologized for the brutal acts of the police. Serious and heartfelt act by the National Government and National Police. Let’s be serious, ”the minister wrote on Twitter.
Some users on social networks also affirmed that it was all a show organized by the Mayor’s Office, because according to the protocol, the president had to sit next to the mayor, where the High Commissioner for Peace was, and not on a shore, where he was located the chair with the name of the president.
The statements of the High Commissioner for Peace
After the controversy unleashed by the president’s “empty chair” at the event, Miguel Ceballos, High Commissioner for Peace, affirmed that he felt assaulted in his good faith.
The official explained that on Saturday night he contacted Luis Ernesto Gómez, Secretary of the Government of Bogotá, and informed him that the president would not attend the ecumenical liturgy. According to Ceballos, he told Gómez that he would go in his place, as High Commissioner for Peace, and Dr. Nancy Patricia Gutierrez, Counselor for Human Rights.
“When we got to the Plaza de Bolívar there was, however, a chair marked with the president’s name, in front of which I told the mayor’s office that I would occupy that chair, as I did,” said Ceballos.
According to the high commissioner, the president’s name was never removed. “Now on Sunday afternoon I see with surprise, and with sadness also, that another chair had been placed to the right of Father Francisco de Roux and as it was recorded in the cameras, on that chair they put the name of President Duque,” he criticized the official.
Ceballos affirmed that this act is an assault on his good faith and that of President Iván Duque, who had previously warned that he would not be able to attend the ecumenical event organized by the Mayor’s Office.
“Having put a chair to make it look empty seems to me to be disrespectful to the Colombian government and to myself, who was sitting next to the mayor throughout the event,” the high commissioner emphasized.
The statements of the High Commissioner for Peace
After the controversy unleashed by the president’s “empty chair” at the event, Miguel Ceballos, High Commissioner for Peace, affirmed that he felt assaulted in his good faith.
The official explained that on Saturday night he contacted Luis Ernesto Gómez, Secretary of the Government of Bogotá, and informed him that the president would not attend the ecumenical liturgy. According to Ceballos, he told Gómez that he would go in his place, as High Commissioner for Peace, and Dr. Nancy Patricia Gutierrez, Counselor for Human Rights.
“When we got to the Plaza de Bolívar there was, however, a chair marked with the president’s name, in front of which I told the mayor’s office that I would occupy that chair, as I did,” said Ceballos.
According to the high commissioner, the president’s name was never removed. “Now on Sunday afternoon I see with surprise, and with sadness also, that another chair had been placed to the right of Father Francisco de Roux and as it was recorded in the cameras, on that chair they put the name of President Duque,” he criticized the official.
Ceballos affirmed that this act is an assault on his good faith and that of President Iván Duque, who had previously warned that he would not be able to attend the ecumenical event organized by the Mayor’s Office.
“Having put a chair to make it look empty seems to me to be disrespectful to the government of Colombia and to me, who was sitting next to the mayor throughout the event,” emphasized the high commissioner.
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