Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday proposed holding peace summits aimed at resolving the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine because they are “similar.”
Petro was speaking during the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit held in New York City as part of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He said:
“The United Nations and humanity have to speed up the road to end wars now. I propose, in particular, to hold two peace conferences: one on the war in Ukraine and the other on the conflict over Palestine, because they are similar.”
Petro noted that since his last address at the UN, the world has witnessed an escalation of warfare and heightened poverty and hunger rates. According to Petro, there has been much more war, poverty and hunger in the world since he last spoke at the UN. He said:
“Undoubtedly if we make a balance between our last meeting a year ago and this one, the problems of humanity have worsened. War continues, poverty and hunger are on the rise, the climate crisis is showing one of the fiercest levels this year compared to previous years and the sustainable development goals are further away than ever on the horizon of humanity.”
Petro drew attention to the situation in the Darien Gap region, located on the border between Colombia and Panama. In an interview with journalists, he described the inability of governments to stem the flow of migrants trying to move from southern countries to northern countries, often crossing treacherous seas and jungles. He said the U.S. government had asked for a barrier to be built to stop migration through the Darien jungle. Pedro added:
“Some advocate for a repressive approach, advocating for border closures. In the case of the Darien Gap, this amounts to plugging a difficult-to-seal gap.”
Petro also appealed to the international community to seek the release of Venezuela’s foreign assets. In his opinion, this is a possible way out of the crisis experienced by this country. His speech at the UN General Assembly is scheduled on September 19.
