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In a harsh opinion column published this Saturday by ‘CNN’, two Democratic congressmen ask Colombian politicians to stop intervening in the US presidential elections. They warn that the bipartisan support the country has always had is at risk if that trend continues.
The column was written by representatives Gregory Meeks and Rubén Gallego, the latter of Colombian origin.
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“The US and Colombia are close friends and we speak to them honestly. That is why, as elected representatives, we have a clear message: colleagues, show us respect and do not interfere in our elections,” say the congressmen.
In the ‘CNN’ column both legislators maintain that, in recent weeks, they have noticed a “disturbing trend” of Colombian politicians taking sides in the presidential elections.
And they mention, by their own name, senators María Fernanda Cabal and Carlos Felipe Mejía and representative Juan David Vélez, the three members of the Democratic Center (CD) and those who have come out to openly support President Donald Trump.
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Donald Trump, the current US president.
Likewise, they point to Senator Gustavo Petro, from Colombia Humana, for offering his support to Joe Biden.
According to the congressmen, the CD members are repeating the “inventions” that Biden, the Democratic nominee, is a radical communist or socialist.
And they note that Cabal even hinted that Biden is controlled by Antifa, a community associated with the racial left in the US.
“For the good of our two countries, this conduct must end now … Enough, that’s enough,” state legislators, who, in any case, underline that the voices of Cabal, Vélez Mejía and Petro do not speak for the majority of the politicians of country or by the Government of Iván Duque, who would be respecting its institutions.
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As elected representatives, we have a clear message: colleagues, show us respect and do not interfere in our elections.
Support for Colombia in the US, state legislators, it has never depended on whether there is a Republican or a Democrat in the White House or who occupies the House of Nariño.
“That’s why we were in ‘shock’ when we learned that these attacks came from one of our strongest allies,” they said.
Furthermore, for them, what these politicians have been doing amounts to “interference in the elections.” A very sensitive issue, they say, if you take into account the intervention of Russia in the past elections and the people who ended up under arrest for trying to manipulate them.
“Biden is not a communist, and by spreading this message, these politicians are misinforming voters in the US and in their own country. Unscrupulous judgment by some legislators damages the image and credibility of the entire country. His comments are unethical and playing with the trauma of many Colombians who escaped the violence of leftist guerrillas and Venezuelans who fled the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro is shameful.“, he maintains in his column, after warning that there is an alliance between the two countries that took decades to build.
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According to them, although Republicans and Democrats disagree on many things, in the case of Colombia there has always been a consensus.
Joe Biden was vice president of Barack Obama.
“Can you imagine the negotiation of our greatest achievements – from Plan Colombia to the Free Trade Agreement – without the support of both parties? We doubt it. Or how about the support of Colombia’s candidacy for the OECD? or Nato? The White House changes hands every few years. But support for Colombia is a rare constant. Taking part in our elections threatens to undermine this strategic relationship, “they say at the end, before noting that none of them want that alliance to suffer.
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Finally, they mention that their intention, whether Biden wins or not, is to continue supporting the country -and even increase aid- now that Colombia faces challenges such as the new coronavirus, the economic crisis and Venezuelan migrants, and the increase in crime.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Washington
On twitter @ sergom68
