"Either we change or we become extinct." The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, on an official visit to Spain, has made a vehement call from the Congress of Deputies to combat the climate crisis, which means the end of the hydrocarbon industry and a firm commitment to clean energy. "Humanity is in danger," Petro assured this Wednesday, from the hemicycle rostrum, before deputies and senators from all groups, except for Vox, who left the Chamber before he began his speech.
"Science shows us the way, which is clean energy, and it is not opening a hole and finding oil or gas, but betting on the sun, the wind and the water and what we can find through them", has defended Petro , who has recognized that his message provokes discussion and also "the attack of those who do not want changes" because they believe that "the world is fine like this." However, he is aware, he has said, that hopes are also concentrated in him. "And I am afraid of not being able to comply with them," he acknowledged.
"We have a mission, which is to save humanity," insisted the Colombian president, with a progressive ideology, who has compared himself to "a Quixote" and has admitted that, like the character of Cervantes, he has also been labeled crazy . "Science has found the elements that are leading us to extinction, and it is the climate crisis. We can believe it or not, but it is not religion, it is science. We can look the other way but we will only make those days closer without having done nothing," he stated.
Petro began a state visit to Spain this morning, in which he was received with honors at the Royal Palace. The kings Felipe and Letizia have offered him an official welcome in the Patio de la Armería, in a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and representatives of the main State institutions.
The Colombian president and his wife and first lady of the country, Verónica Alcocer, have arrived at the palace aboard a Rolls Royce Phantom IV escorted by 70 horses from the Royal Escort Squadron. After getting out of the vehicle, they greeted each other with the Kings and the four went to the box located in front of the building's façade to listen to the national anthems and salutes of honor.
After the welcome, Petro went to the Chamber of Deputies, where he was received by the president, Meritxell Batet, and by the president of the Senate, Ander Gil. The Colombian president greeted the members of the Bureau of both chambers and the deputies and senators present there, and signed the book of honor. Next, he greeted the fourteen government ministers who attended the institutional act. The Second Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has given him a warm hug and two kisses, and Petro has also received affectionate greetings and kisses from the two ministers of Unidas Podemos, Ione Belarra and Irene Montero.
Before the chamber, Meritxell Batet expressed to Petro Spain's "firm support" and "total collaboration" in the peace process in Colombia, both to develop the 2016 agreement and to achieve the goal of "total peace".
"The 2016 Peace Agreement constitutes a collective success for Colombian society, a turning point in the political life of the country, from which the future of the citizens of Colombia will be a future more than a dream, full of possibilities and opportunities, without the hindrances and obstacles of a past of violence that has been definitively left behind", he underlined.
After finishing his speech, Petro went to the Zarzuela to have a meeting with the King and then participate in the honorary lunch offered by the Kings on the occasion of their official visit.
