Gustavo Petro

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian economist and politician who is the 34th President of Colombia since 7 August 2022.

• I ask (El Espinal) mayors not to allow more events involving the death of people or animals (after the bullfighting stadium collapse).
  • Gustavo Petro (2022) cited in: "Colombia: Scores injured in deadly bullfight stand collapse" in BBC, 28 June 2022.

• You all insist that the market will save us from what the market itself has created. Humanity’s Frankenstein is allowing the market and greed to act without any planning, giving up our brains and reason, making human rationality kneel before greed.
  • Gustavo Petro (2022) cited in: "‘War on drugs has failed’: At UN, Colombia condemns ‘addiction to money and oil’" in Multipolarista, 24 September 2022.

• Hitler is knocking on the doors of the homes of the European and North American middle class and many have already let him in. The [climate] exodus will be responded to with a lot of violence, with barbarism itself, what we see in Gaza is the test of the future. Why have large carbon-consuming countries allowed the systematic murder of thousands of children in Gaza? Because Hitler already entered their homes.
  • Gustavo Petro (2023) cited in: "Hitler is knocking on the doors" in Euro ES, 1 December 2023.

• Y finalmente recuerden: país rico no es aquel donde los pobres logran tener carro, sino donde los ricos toman el transporte publico.
  • Translation: And finally remember: a rich country is not one where the poor manage to have a car, but one where the rich take public transportation.
  • X, 14 September 2012

• Cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky.
  • Cocaine is ‘no worse than whisky,’ Colombian president says. CNN (2025-02-07).

• Scientists have analyzed this. Cocaine is no worse than whiskey. [...] If you want peace, you have to dismantle the [drug trafficking industry]. It could easily be dismantled if they legalize cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine.
  • As quoted by CBS News [1]

• [Fentanyl] is killing Americans and it is not made in Colombia. [...] Fentanyl was created as a pharmacy drug by North American multinationals.
  • As quoted by CBS News [2]

• Colombia elects climate champions president and vice president Francia Márquez, pledging to put "the defense of life above the interests of economic capital."
  • "An Extremely Incomplete List of Climate Victories" in Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua (2023)