Colombia: Petro bars military sites for inauguration; De la Espriella says he will go ahead — MercoPress
Colombia: Petro bars military sites for inauguration; De la Espriella says he will go ahead
The president-elect, who adopted a military salute and the slogan Firm for the homeland during his campaign, has expressed his intention to hold the ceremony in Popayán
Colombia’s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has ordered that no military facility be used for the inauguration of his successor, Abelardo de la Espriella, scheduled for August 7. The president-elect responded that he will maintain his intention to be sworn in at a garrison in the south of the country, deepening the standoff between the two men less than a month before the handover.
The military and police barracks are under my orders until the moment the new president is sworn in, and until then I am the supreme commander of the armed forces, Petro wrote on the social media platform X. In exercise of my constitutional and legal powers, I order that no military establishment be used for the inauguration of a president of the Republic, he added. Petro argued that the Constitution requires the president to take office before Congress in plenary session, and that barracks serve security and defense functions, not as venues for legislative acts.
De la Espriella confirmed his decision in a message posted on his social networks. I will be sworn in in the south of the country at a military garrison, to pay solemn tribute to the heroes of the homeland and to the uniformed personnel who protect democracy, freedom and institutions, he said. The president-elect, who adopted a military salute and the slogan Firm for the homeland during his campaign, has expressed his intention to hold the ceremony in Popayán, capital of the Cauca department, a region hit by the expansion of the armed conflict.
Faced with the outgoing government’s refusal, De la Espriella appealed to the new Congress, which will be installed on July 20 and where he does not hold a majority, to authorize relocating the legislative seat. The legal question remains disputed. The incoming interior minister, Rodrigo Lara, argues that the legislature may sit anywhere in the country if it so decides. From the outgoing ruling bloc, Senator Isabel Zuleta countered that Congress has no authority over spaces administered by the executive and that an officer obeying orders from the president-elect before the handover could commit a serious offense.
The ceremony also faces logistical hurdles. The foreign ministry has yet to award the contract to organize the event and invite foreign delegations, four weeks before the scheduled date, and legal experts point to the complexity of moving nearly three hundred lawmakers and visiting heads of state to a military unit.
De la Espriella responded to criticism over the cost of the move by saying his inauguration will be austere, without waste. The episode adds to the suspension of the transition between the two governments and Petro’s refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the election, developments MercoPress has covered.