Labor unions and political organizations close to Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro announced protests to demand the Supreme Court pick a new chief prosecutor.
Teachers union Fecode said it will take to the streets on Thursday to demand this pick be made before the end of the term of Prosecutor General Francisco Barbosa on Monday.
Without a Supreme Court decision, Barbosa will be temporarily succeeded by Vice Prosecutor General Martha Mancera.
The chief prosecutor and his deputy have been regularly clashing with the president about corruption and their alleged persecution of leftist leaders and organizations, including Fecode.
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Petro surrendered a shortlist of three candidates to succeed Barbosa in November, which has been debated in the court since then.
Barbosa has been promoting Mancera as his successor, both in Colombia and in the United States.
According to Petro, the prosecution has been investigating him in violation of the constitution, which allows only Congress to investigate a sitting president.
Trade unions have been raided, people have been tortured and witnesses have been pressured to accuse the president and they have not been successful. Drug trafficking sectors, perpetrators of crimes against humanity, corrupt politicians and corrupt sectors within the Prosecutor General’s Office desperately seek the removal of the president who has been elected by the people.
President Gustavo Petro
The president called for public protests in opposition to the “institutional rupture” over the weekend.
Some jurists urged the court to pick Barbosa’s successor before the end of his term.
The president of the Supreme Court, magistrate Gerson Chaverra, has said that the court would not rush an election.
