Miami, May 8 (EFE).- Twenty-four former heads of State and Government members of the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA) welcomed this Monday the recent statement of the Colombian Supreme Court in which they support the attorney general of that country, Francisco Barbosa.
In a statement, the former presidents applauded the fact that the highest Colombian judicial authority came up against what was stated by the president of that country, Gustavo Petro, “regarding that, as head of state, he would be the hierarchical superior of the Nation’s prosecutor’s office , a part of the judicial branch according to the current Constitution of 1991”.
The signatories of the declaration alluded to the precedents in the region regarding “the undermining by different governments of the independence of the Judiciary and the undue exertion of pressure to intimidate the servants of Justice before public opinion,” which contravenes “the access to power and its exercise subject to the rule of law”.
“Invading the powers of the Justice itself weakens the rights of each person to judicial guarantees and judicial protection, enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights,” the statement highlights.
Former heads of state remember that it is up to judges to exercise control of conventionality and constitutionality of the acts of the different powers of the State.
“We hope that Colombia and Colombians promptly resolve this situation that may create risk or affect the legitimate exercise of power, for which purpose, the IDEA Group offers its good offices,” the statement added.
This weekend, Petro affirmed that he “accepts” the appeal of the Supreme Court and recognized the independence of the Attorney General’s Office.
They sign the declaration of IDEA José María Aznar (Spain); Óscar Arias, Rafael Ángel Calderón and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Costa Rica); Felipe Calderón H. and Vicente Fox (Mexico) and Alfredo Cristiani (El Salvador).
Also Andrés Pastrana and Iván Duque (Colombia); Federico Franco and Juan Carlos Wasmosy (Paraguay), Sebastián Piñera and Eduardo Frei T. (Chile); Lucio Gutiérrez, Osvaldo Hurtado, Jamil Mahuad and Lenín Moreno (Ecuador), Luis Alberto Lacalle (Uruguay), Mauricio Macri (Argentina); Mireya Moscoso, Ernesto Pérez Balladares and Nicolás Ardito Barletta (Panama), and Carlos Mesa G. and Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia).
