Colombia.- The president-elect of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, pledged this Thursday, less than 24 hours before taking office in the city of Cali (southwest), to safeguard “journalistic freedom” during his administration.
“The work of journalism in a society is fundamental. Therefore, that journalistic freedom, that freedom of opinion, that freedom of the press, must always be safeguarded because it is a constitutional guarantee. I will always defend free expression, I will defend freedom of the press,” said De la Espriella in a message to the press accredited for his inauguration.
De la Espriella, who spoke in a video posted by his team in the press room of the USC Arena, where he will be inaugurated on Friday, added that, “of course, that journalistic activity must be linked to the truth, to the veracity of the facts, because that is true journalism, the one that tells what happens with adherence to the truth”.
“The rest is not journalism, just as politics is not that which is limited to attack, offense, infamy, or brawling. Great politics is that which is measured by liters of water, by kilometers of roads, by health coverage, by opportunities for the most unprotected, and by the presence of the State in all territories,” he expressed.
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Cali, capital of the Valle del Cauca department, armored for the occasion, was the option chosen by the president-elect after his idea of holding it in a military garrison in Popayán, capital of neighboring Cauca, to pay tribute to “the true heroes of the nation” in an area marked by armed conflict, was discarded due to the risk of an eruption of the nearby Puracé volcano, currently on orange alert.
De la Espriella will succeed President Gustavo Petro in office, who does not recognize his victory and promises to lead the opposition and “civil disobedience” against the far-right lawyer’s government.
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The new Colombian president will have the presidential sash placed on him in a session of the Legislature that will take place at the USC Arena of the Santiago de Cali University.
This is a multi-purpose complex with a capacity for more than 2,300 people that features over 800 parking spaces, a helipad, state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, and high-definition LED screens.
