Duque assures that he will keep “prudent silence” after leaving the Presidency of Colombia

Colombian President Ivan Duque has announced that as of Sunday, when he leaves office in favor of President-elect Gustavo Petro, he will keep a “prudential silence” on political issues.

The president has granted an interview to RCN Radio where he has stressed that, for a while, he will not speak out on political issues unless they are issues where Colombian democracy is at stake.

“I am going to make a vow of silence for a while, let’s see how long it lasts but I think I will remain silent for a reasonable time, but without a doubt I will not keep political silence regarding issues in which democracy or the defense of private initiative is involved,” he said.

On the other hand, Duque has also referred to the possibility that his successor will take the National Police out of the umbrella of the Ministry of Defense to put it under the command of the Ministry of Peace, a new portfolio already announced by Petro.

In this sense, Duque considers that there should be a debate regarding this decision in which the police representatives themselves take the floor. In addition, he has shown himself to be against this measure because it would lead to a situation in which the Ministry of Defense would make decisions on one sector of the Public Force and, in this case, the Ministry of Peace would control the other part.

“That is going to start to cross and it can go wrong, there is no way it can go right and it can generate an impact on the morale of the Police,” warned the president, who warned that in the past, when the Ministry of the Interior controlled the police force, corruption was fed within the agency.

On the other hand, the president has reproached that now political figures have appeared who “tear their clothes with the murder of policemen”, many of them at the hands of groups such as the Clan del Golfo or the National Liberation Army, “but who before did not speak out about it”.

“Nobody said anything last year in the face of the attacks on the public forces during the protests (of the national strike), now I get the impression that they want to gain with this a political opportunity,” President Duque has reproached.

On a personal level, Duque has acknowledged having “a very large debt” with his partner and children, since during these last four years “family time has decreased substantially.” In addition, he has announced that he has in mind to return to his activity as a writer and even to promote a foundation.