Far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro on Sunday expressed outrage at the ouster of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, issuing a flurry of allegations and conjecture in a lengthy social media post.
Petro, a former member of the Marxist M19 guerrilla and Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, is known for posting wild rants on his official Twitter account — from accusing Israel of turning Gaza into Auschwitz to condemning Hispanic supporters of President-elect Donald Trump in the United States for voting Republican.
The Colombian president focused his latest social media rant on the subject of Assad’s recent ouster, starting with Assad’s arrival in Russia, where he and his family were reportedly granted political asylum by the regime of strongman Vladimir Putin.
Petro, without presenting evidence to substantiate his allegations, opened his lengthy rant by alluding to a “new alliance” between Russia and Trump. Petro, who single-handedly damaged Colombia’s decades-long friendly relations with Israel, also lamented in his rant that Israel will “grow even more” by taking “Syrian land.”
“Ba’ath regime in Syria abandoned by Russia, New alliance with Trump?” Petro said.
“The Arab country moves rightwards towards fundamentalism, like Afga istan [sic]. Iraq and Libya, Israel will grow even more, taking Syrian land,” he continued. “Palestinians and Kurds, will be even more alone. Perhaps Iran, as in Iraq, will gain more Shiite influence. New alliances, new betrayed.”
The Colombian president continued by issuing several questions regarding Syria’s future as well as possible events or actions that other nations may take following the fall of the Assad regime. Petro also appeared to be concerned that the authoritarian regimes of Cuba and Venezuela will be “abandoned” just as he claims the Syrian regime was.
Petro asked:
Will a land concession to Russia follow in Ukraine? Will Zelensky and Western Europe be betrayed on the right?
Where will Syrian oil go?
Will pan-Arabism and its secular idea die?
Will this new political configuration knock on the doors of the Colombian border?
Will they abandon Cuba and will Venezuelan oil be a bargaining chip?
Will we have other betrayed ones in the Caribbean?
Petro asked if Latin American “progressivism” will be able to “unite and win” against the Organization of American States (OAS) to, according to him, continue “shining the beacon of democracy in a world that is turning off the lights.”
The Colombian president also asked “where will China move to?” and wondered if the Communist Asian nation — and the world’s worst polluter — will be able to propose a “decarbonized economy that expands based on the planning that emerges from a dialogue of civilizations.”
Petro did not explain if he believed there is any relation between the developing political situation in Syria following the fall of Assad’s regime and China’s environmental policies — nor did he explain how the fall of Assad’s regime would impact those alleged “green” policies.
“Will being the world’s largest debt holder lead China to paralyze the global effort to finance economic decarbonization?” Petro asked.
The far-left president concluded his rant by asserting that “the world is debating between life and greed, greed has the weapons and the power, its result is nothing but extinction after barbarism.”
“The progressive hour of the peoples has arrived and it is the hope that remains.” Petro said.
Former Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón criticized Petro over his rant, describing the posts as “a disgrace” in a reply.
“A head of state cannot wander around in the middle of an international crisis. It shows support for brutal dictatorships and regrets their downfall,” Pinzón’s message read. “In no way does it represent or benefit the interests of Colombia, which is its duty. Hopefully [Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás] Maduro will be next.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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