As they had warned, the Vox deputies staged this Wednesday their rejection of the state visit of the President of the Republic of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, to Spain by leaving the Chamber just before he spoke from the rostrum of the Congress of Deputies before deputies and senators.
Upon entering the Petro Chamber, the Vox deputies present in the Chamber remained seated in their seats while the rest of the deputies from the other parliamentary groups stood up and applauded him and attended the speech by the president of the Congress, Meritxell Batet, who welcomed him.
In this way, Vox decided not to witness Petro's speech because for this party it is "intolerable" that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, "cede" the rostrum of Congress to "this subject". He also did not participate in the reception of the president of Colombia nor was he present during his signing of the Book of Honor that took place in the Salón de Pasos Perdidos.
Hours before, Foro Madrid called a demonstration against the project that they consider to be "totalitarian" of Petro. Some 50 people attended this rally who, with megaphones and whistles, shouted "Get out with Petro", "Freedom" and carried a banner that read "Wanted" for Petro and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for “crimes against democracy”.
Around 11:00 a.m., the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, and deputies such as José María Figaredo and Javier Ortega Smith came out to greet the protesters and show their support. Abascal was greeted with shouts of "president" and "only Vox remains" and spent about 30 minutes talking with those attending this rally against the president of Colombia.
Likewise, Vox registered in Congress a letter written by Foro Madrid addressed to the president of the Lower House, Meritxell Batet, to denounce the "totalitarian drift" and "liberticidal" of Petro and show his "concern" and that of the signatories of this letter, among them the Vox deputies, for this visit by the Colombian president.
In the letter, signed by 157 parliamentarians, the Madrid Forum denounces that Petro represents the interests of the São Paulo Forum and the Puebla Group, organizations that, according to what they say, "seek to impose in Latin America a threatening hegemony of the principles of democracy, freedoms and the rule of law". "Petro wants Spain to serve as a bridge to the rest of Europe to impose its false narratives, which would only benefit Ibero-American tyrannies and drug trafficking mafias," the signatories say.
