Colombian President Gustavo Petro: End the War on Drugs
BY
GUSTAVO PETRO
At his United Nations General Assembly address this week, newly elected leftist Colombian president Gustavo Petro denounced the war on drugs and destruction of the planet waged by the United States. We reprint his remarks here in full.
The following is an English translation of Colombian president Gustavo Petro’s address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on September 20, 2022.
Secretary-general of the United Nations António Guterres, Your Excellencies, heads of state and heads of missions accredited to the Seventy-seventh United Nations General Assembly; Deputy Secretary-general of the United Nations Amina Mohammed, to all of you.
I come from one of the three most beautiful countries on Earth. There is an explosion of life there. Thousands of multicolored species in the seas, in the skies, on the land. I come from the land of yellow butterflies and magic. There, in the mountains and valleys of all the shades of green, flow not just abundant waters but also torrents of blood.
I come from a country of bloodsoaked beauty. My country is not just beautiful — it is also violent.
How can violence and beauty exist side by side? How can the biodiversity of life intertwine with the dances of death and horror? Who is to blame for breaking the charming spell with terror? Who or what is responsible for suffocating life in the routine decisions of wealth and interest? Who leads us to destruction as a nation and as a people?
More:
https://jacobin.com/2022/09/gustavo-petro-un-address-drugs-climate/