Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted an avalanche of tweets this week, amid the worst political crisis since taking office, rising from an average of 22 daily posts to more than 40 on Friday.
As he surprisingly renewed seven ministries on Wednesday in the face of the difficulties encountered by his ambitious reforms in Congress, the left-wing president, in power since August 2022, launched a parallel series of tweets targeting all fronts. Cocaine seizures, relations with Venezuela, praise for its new ministers, unemployment figures, disputes with journalists…
Very active on social networks, the president has used Twitter for years to defend his political project, attack his detractors and respond to criticism. He now has 6.6 million subscribers.
As head of state, he continued this activism on the social network. On Wednesday, he thus announced the reshuffle of his coalition government.
On New Year’s Eve, he had surprised everyone by announcing a bilateral ceasefire with the main armed groups, immediately denied by one of the groups concerned, and another which then collapsed.
This week’s political storm coincided with the release of an Invamer Institute poll that showed Petro’s popularity plummeted from 40% in February to 35% in April.
This survey “has not been widely publicized”, retorted, still on Twitter, the main interested party. “It shows that my favorable image remains high, and very high among young people and the poor population,” he said.
The Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), a benchmark organization in Colombia, was alarmed by certain publications by the Colombian president, which “stigmatizes and generates a climate of violence” against certain media or journalists.
“In his official account, the President corrects or criticizes the media for their coverage of his government. He also labels information as false and has reproduced messages from third parties that refer to the press in a derogatory manner,” FLIP warned. in February.
The first leftist president in the country’s history came to power in a break with previous conservative and right-liberal governments, following an election marked by high polarization.
Doubting or expressing their distrust of traditional media, other presidents or ex-presidents have used Twitter as their main communication channel: the Venezuelan Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), the American Donald Trump (2017-2021), the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) or the current leader of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.
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2023-04-29 03:38:37
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