President Alvaro Uribe and former President Cesar Gaviria on Thursday both backed off from confrontation, following a heated conversation between the two on Wednesday in which Gaviria called Uribe’s government “truly disgusting.”
Uribe, who had earlier called Gaviria “opportunistic” for offering his support to Partido de la U presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos, responded to questions from Colombian press over his heated conversation with Gaviria by saying that the only conversation he will remember is the one he had with the Colombian community.
“August 7, when I return to the beautiful state of becoming a normal citizen of Colombia, I will hold with me, until the last day of my life, the gratitude of … the Colombian community,” Uribe said, explaining that “these are the only dialogues that I will remember.”
For his part, Gaviria told Colombian press on Thursday that he would “wait patiently” before speaking to Uribe again, and quickly returned the conversation to his support for Santos.
“What is important is that Santos, if elected by Colombia, does well and incorporates some of the proposals from the Liberal Party.”
Gaviria has been highly critical of Uribe throughout his eight year administration, during which the Liberal Party has been in opposition.