The controversy has surrounded the inauguration of the new president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro. The first decision of the leftist president was to order the sword of Simón Bolívar, a symbol of the country’s independence from Spain, to be brought to the stage where the act was being held.
“As president of Colombia, I ask the Military House to bring Bolívar’s sword, an order of the popular mandate of this president,” Petro said amid an ovation from the crowd that attended the act, according to Efe. Half an hour later, a recess was held that was used to carry the sword before the new president, a parade that was accompanied by a crowd chanting “Alert, alert, alert! Let Bolívar’s sword walk through Latin America!”, and applauded by those present, including guests at the inauguration, who stood up upon his arrival at the center of the stage, except for one, King Felipe VI, who remained seated. The moment was captured in a video that has gone viral.
???????? | The King of Spain, Felipe VI, was the only one to remain seated before the arrival of Simón Bolívar’s sword during Gustavo Petro’s inauguration. The same one with which the Liberator fought the Spanish army more than 200 years ago. pic.twitter.com/EDyO8d1GsU
— World Alert (@AIertaMundiaI) August 8, 2022
Bolívar’s sword had already become an unexpected protagonist in the days prior to Petro’s inauguration, since the last decision of his predecessor in office, Iván Duque, was to expressly reject the request for him to participate in the inauguration. possession. The reasons given for the refusal were security, because given the great historical value of this piece, policies against any incident would be necessary.
a symbolic value
The piece was returned by the M-19 to the Colombian government on the occasion of his demobilization after signing a peace agreement in 1990, during the government of then President Virgilio Barco, and since then he has remained in a glass case in the Casa de Nariño, seat of the Executive.
For Petro, who in his youth was a member of the M-19, the sword has a great symbolic value, and that is why he wanted it to be at his investiture ceremony, along with the sculpture of the dove of peace, created by the master Ferdinand Botero for the signing of the peace agreement with the FARC, in 2016.
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