Ruptly
"The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, participated this Thursday in the International Workers' Day mobilizations in Medellín, where he delivered a speech focused on regional integration and his government's social reforms for the benefit of the working class. In the images broadcast by the Presidency of Colombia, the gathering held at the Parque de las Luces is shown, where the president highlighted that the country enjoys the "lowest unemployment rate in the entire century" thanks to his government. "These are achievements to be proud of," he stated. He also pointed out that his administration's policies on wages have sought to preserve the purchasing power of the Colombian people, in order to guarantee basic living conditions. "The national government is once again increasing the salary to maintain the purchasing power of the working people's wages," he noted. In the same vein, he highlighted that women with the lowest incomes in 2022 "are the ones whose incomes have grown the most percentage-wise" throughout his government, thus highlighting advances in the formal and informal economy. In his speech, Petro also criticized former President Iván Duque for the debts generated during his government, most of which were caused by gasoline subsidies, considering that they affected low-income sectors the most. "We are left with the debt and today I can tell you that every last peso of the debts left by [Iván] Duque has been paid. Problems he left us, the gasoline subsidy, which if it had not been generated at this moment there would be no primary deficit in the national budget. Terrible mistake," he stated. At another point in his speech, Petro insisted that his government responds exclusively to the citizen mandate and not to international actors, thus ruling out any type of external interference in the country's internal affairs. "My mandate is not [Nicolás] Maduro, my mandate is not [Donald] Trump, my mandate is not [Daniel] Novoa, my mandate is not the people of Europe, my mandate is not the Chinese; my mandate and I am their servant is the people of Colombia," he assured. The May Day event in Medellín took place amid union gatherings and social demonstrations, in a context of support and debate over the reforms promoted by the Colombian Executive."
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