Colombia: demonstration of ex-military against the leftist president

Hundreds of retired military and police officers demonstrated Wednesday in central Bogota against Colombian President Gustavo Petro's left-wing policies.

Dressed in camouflage and waving Colombian flags, protesters gathered in Bolívar Square in Bogotá's historic center. Their slogans denounced insecurity or the increase in drug trafficking and marked the rejection of the first left-wing president in the country's history.

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This government has neglected us," Carlos Chonaga, a former soldier, told AFP. The demonstrators also sang the anthems of the Colombian police and army that make up the continent's largest armed forces after Brazil's.

"Petro out!"

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Petro, out!" demanded one of the protesters' placards. "I am the constitutional commander of the armed forces," Petro, a former guerillero elected in the summer of 2022, said on Twitter. "There is no conflict between the active armed forces and the national government," he insisted.

Popular for the fight against the guerrillas, the Colombian armed forces hardly interfere in political life, but the coming to power of a former rebel and left-wing opponent has broken their silence even if the Constitution does not allow them to vote. The army chief under President Ivan Duque (2018-2022), General Eduardo Zapateiro, openly attacked Petro during the presidential campaign.

Defense Minister Iván Velasquez invited "retired members of the Public Force" to open "a frank and constructive dialogue with the government," saying on Twitter that he wanted to "build solutions with you together."