:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/ZUO56XBPNFCLLIJOZCO2W3VD5M.jpeg "Gustavo Petro was received with harangues and applause in Soacha")
In order to discuss relevant issues regarding education, infrastructure and connectivity, the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, visited Soacha. Despite the fact that the appointment was set for 9 a.m. and the president arrived four hours later (1:00 p.m.), some assistants greeted him with harangues and applause.
The Head of State’s visit was scheduled for March 10; however, due to the reorganization of the agenda, the date was set for the following day, in General Santander Coliseum of Soacha. The place was the same and people who had registered before were able to enter without major problems.
This meeting is part of the program “The government is listening”a strategy that aims to maintain a constructive conversation with the territories, prioritize productive and infrastructure projects to work hand in hand with the population and thus improve these conditions in the territories.
The opposite case was that of the mayor of Soacha, Juan Carlos Saldarriada which was greeted with boos by the citizens. In this situation, the Superior Councilor of the Regions, Luis Fernando Velasco, had to intervene, who asked the participants to listen to the president of the municipality.
After Saldarriada’s intervention, it was the turn of Gustavo Petro; The president focused on educational issues, he mentioned the possibility of bringing the public university to the municipality that borders the country’s capital, Bogotá. “I hope the site is the most favorable. The more it is located in the center, in the places that seem suitable to you; The idea is that quotas can be for the soachuna youth“said the head of state.
Regarding the development of the municipality, Petro assured that it has been neglected, he even said that Soacha should be considered more important, because “it has the population of a big city and the budget of a small town“said the president of the Colombians.
Furthermore, he highlighted the fact that this population has increased largely due to the shift Due to the violence in the country, “Soacha has grown out of the violent displacements that have occurred in many parts of Colombia,” the Colombian president said.
On housing issues, he reiterated his premise on the budget, “the city has been growing for a long time, not so long ago a wave began to build social interest housing by construction businessmen who saw the Soacha land as the right place to do business, but this growth has not been matched by budget growth,” he concluded.
With regard to infrastructure, Petro Urrego recalled when he was Mayor of BogotáIn this part of the speech, he expressed his feelings about the “oblivion” in which some local leaders have plunged the municipality.
“Being mayor of Bogotá gave me indignation when we started putting on the led lights, but they had to stop at the border between Bogotá and Soacha, so if you were driving Soacha was dark and in Bogotá it became brighter,” said the former Mayor of Bogotá and current Colombian Head of State. .
“I think it’s symbolically the huge contradiction of this urban continuity that exists between Bogotá and the municipality of Soacha,” he said.
This visit to Soacha is a continuation of the one already carried out in 2022 as part of the Binding regional dialoguesFor this reason, the Colombian President and Luis Fernando Velasco called on Soachunos to continue participating in the development of this joint work in which concrete actions will be determined from the institutional offer of the participating entities.