Almeida makes it clear that the terrorist Petro does not deserve any applause

That the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, does not deserve any distinction is evident. Someone with a past like him, linked to terrorism, is not here to be paid tributes. In this sense, the mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, has done what is appropriate: the City Council has the obligation to grant the Golden Key of the Villa to all Heads of State on official visits, by virtue of the Regulation of Protocol and Ceremonialthe same for which the consistory granted the same distinction to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Pero Almeida did not applaud Petro’s intervention, a gesture that is more than eloquent.

The Vox spokesman in the City Council, Javier Ortega Smith, went further and showed the “rejection” of his formation for the delivery of the Golden Key of the Villa de Madrid to the Ibero-American leader, but Vox – who voted against withdrawing him the distinction to Vladimir Putinwith the argument that it was a recognition of the Russian people and not of its president – is not in a position to make the distinction of the City Council ugly to a head of state, for the simple reason that the municipal regulation does not leave any room for maneuver . Therefore, Almeida has done exactly what could be expected of him: not applaud and show an obvious distance from the obligatory winner, an attitude that contrasts with the undeserved applause that Petro received from the PP bench during his speech in Congress of the Deputies. Parliamentary courtesy before a head of state is one thing and applauding a terrorist is another, quite different. Of course, the one who has turned to the Colombian president has been social communism, unable to understand that the fact that the Colombian president is from the left does not grant him the status of a democrat. Rather the complete opposite.