Gustavo Petro at the United Nations: "It is time for PEACE"

WTF is Going on in Latin America & The Caribbean

In this episode, we are in conversation with three Colombians living in the North America diaspora about their impressions of Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s address to the United Nations on Tuesday, September 20

Guests:

Raul Burbano, Executive Director Common Frontiers, Toronto

Yhamir Chabur, Troika Kollectivo, Queens

Samantha Wherry, CODEPINK Latin America Coordinator, Wash DC

Background:

On Tuesday September 20, the first day of the United Nations General Assembly, Colombian President Gustavo Petro made his first address to the body. The speech sharply deviated from those of his conservative predecessors. Petro did not shy away from calling out global North countries for their role in the destruction of the environment and in the perpetuation of the War on Drugs, as a symptom of their capitalist greed. He accused “You are only interested in my country to spray poisons on our jungles, to take our men to jail and put our women in exclusion. You are not interested in the education of the child, but in killing the jungle and extracting coal and oil from its entrails. The sponge that absorbs the poison [the rainforest] is useless, they prefer to throw more poisons into the atmosphere.”

This is Petro’s first trip to the United States since he was inaugurated on August 7. He was received on Sunday night, September 18, by hundreds of supporters in Queens, NY who showed their support to his administration’s commitment to working for peace and ensuring the wellbeing of the Colombian people.

Follow our Guests:

Raul Burbano:

https://www.facebook.com/raul.burbano.1

Yhamir Chabur:

https://www.facebook.com/ychabur

https://www.instagram.com/yhamirchabur/

Samantha Wherry:

https://www.facebook.com/samantha.wherry.1

Additional Links:

General Assembly of the United Nations-General Debate (Colombia) H.E. Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego, President

In partnership with Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com