Petro's latest Wile-e-Coyote scheme to get back at Trump

After going FAFO on President Trump over migrant repatration flights, and making himself a global laughingstock, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has decided to try again.

According to the New York Post:

Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged undocumented Colombians in the United States to quit their jobs “immediately” and return to their homeland, according to a statement he made on X Friday morning.

Petro added that the country’s Department of Social Prosperity would offer credits to returnees who enroll in its programs, the post said.

Now what he's trying to do is what had been done in the 2007 movie called "A Day Without A Mexican." There, the idea was that the U.S. economy could be shut down in an instant if all the Mexicans in the U.S. here illegally were to go on strike and stop working. Toilets would go uncleaned! Strawberries would go unpicked. The works.

Why not call the Colombians back on this premise and stick it to Uncle Sam, since the poor wretched gringos won't know what they were losing.

As a carrot, he offered social prosperity to the returning migrants.

Social prosperity? How about some real prosperity?

Here's what the OECD had to say about Colombia in its latest snapshot report surveying its private sector:

After a robust recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, Colombia's economic growth is returning to a low potential. Medium-term growth prospects depend on maintaining Colombia's strong macroeconomic framework and enacting reforms to create a business-friendly environment which can attract high levels of investment. Implementing fiscal consolidation and adhering to fiscal rules would prevent rising financing costs and safeguard debt sustainability. Reforms to raise tax revenues and improve spending efficiency are needed to create fiscal space for social and productive investment needs. Enhancing the investment climate requires reducing regulatory uncertainties and tackling corruption. Creating connected transport infrastructure, strengthening subnational government capacities and improving equalisation mechanisms in the fiscal transfer system would foster balanced development across the country. Addressing informality, gender gaps, and improving education quality would boost productivity and reduce social disparities.

The OECD press release for it, dated last September, stated this:

The OECD projects GDP growth to increase to 2.8% in 2025 as the effects of policy easing and improving global economic conditions take hold. However, investment is expected to remain weak. Colombia’s growth potential is estimated to be below 3%, making it essential to increase investment and productivity growth, both of which are key for continued convergence with other OECD countries.

“Colombia needs to revitalise investment to boost productivity and to unlock its potential for strong and sustainable growth,” OECD Chief Economist Alvaro Santos Pereira said, presenting the Survey in Bogotá alongside Colombia’s Minister of Finance and Public Credit Ricardo Bonilla. “Colombia has many advantages, its geographical location, natural wealth, a young population, and a strong potential for renewable energy. The time is now to implement a broad and ambitious reform agenda to enhance growth and equality of opportunities.”

Reducing business informality and regulatory barriers could boost private investment and improve Colombia’s growth potential. This requires comprehensive reforms, including lowering the corporate tax rate, facilitating access to affordable credit, and fostering a stable and predictable policy environment. Expanding the coverage of simplified tax and insolvency regimes to more firms and online one-stop shops would reduce regulatory compliance costs. Additional measures that would help decrease business and labour informality include reducing social security contributions for lower-income workers, better enforcing labour and tax laws, and improving skills.

Best he can do is 2.8% economic growth in an emerging economy? That's pretty weak. Respectable emerging markets grow 5% - 10% a year. He's pulling two and that's probably optimistic. Meanwhile, unemployment is at 9.1%, supposedly an improvement over the 10% it was at the same time last year, according to TradingEconomics.

Socialism from Petro has had the effect of a wet blanket on the country's formerly impressive growth rates, and it's no surprise the economic migrants flowed outward, a large number of whom were desperately looking for jobs.

So Petro wants Colombia's illegal migrants to quit their jobs and come back for some of his pro-offered social capital?

I guess giving them jobs would be asking too much, as it might mean having to create a decent title-deed system, end useless spaghetti-bowl regulations to starting businesses, drop taxes to manageable levels, create a friendly atmosphere for foreign investment, instituting workable bankruptcy laws and cut government spending to sustainable levels, as the OECD report indicates.

Most Colombians here illegally are here for the jobs, which Petro can't give them as long as he clings to socialism.

Instead, he's offering "social capital" which is a fancy way of saying handouts.

 

Le solicito a las colombianas y colombianos sin documentos en EEUU dejar sus trabajos de inmediato en ese país y retornar a Colombia lo más pronto posible

La riqueza la produce solo el pueblo trabajador.

El Departamento de Prosperidad Social, DPS, buscará entregar créditos…

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) January 31, 2025

According to Google Translate:

I ask undocumented Colombians in the US to immediately leave their jobs in that country and return to Colombia as soon as possible.

Wealth is produced only by working people.

The Department of Social Prosperity, DPS, will seek to provide productive loans to returnees who enroll in its programs. Let's build social wealth in Colombia.

According to the Colombian social capital website, on its English-language page:

These are functions regarding the Administrative Department of Social Prosperity in addition to determining the Law 489 of 1998 and other legal dispositions, the following:

1. Formulate, direct, implement and coordinate policies, plans, programs, strategies and projects for social inclusion and reconciliation in terms of overcoming poverty and extreme poverty, care for vulnerable groups, territorial management referring to the repair victims of the armed conflict that Article 3 of Law 1448 of 2011.

2. Formulate, direct, coordinate, articulate policies, plans, programs, strategies and projects integrating attention to early childhood, childhood and adolescence.

3. Provide guidance to the National Order and it´s national entities for intervention of the focalized populations by the Department, within the competence of each one of them.

4. Adopt and implement plans, programs, strategies and projects to manage and focus the social supply of the National Order´s entities in the Territory, with criteria of efficiency and effectiveness, to ensure the improvement of living conditions.

5. Adopt and implement plans, programs, strategies and projects for the population in poverty and extreme poverty, vulnerable victims of violence and poverty, through family and community support that contributes to social inclusion and reconciliation.

6. Establish monitoring schemes, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of policies, plans and projects competition of the Social Inclusion and Reconciliation sector in coordination with the entities responsible in the matter.

7. Promote social innovation through the identification and implementation of private and local initiatives, among others, aimed at social and productive inclusion of the population in poverty and extreme poverty, vulnerable victims of violence and poverty.

8. Formulate and implement strategies to articulate and coordinate institutional intervention for territorial development and illicit crop substitution.

9. Coordinate with other relevant entities, the National Police the territorial development and substitution of illicit crops.

10. Define management policies of information technologies and the communications sector Administrative Social Inclusion and Reconciliation, allowing the exchange and availability of information for the performance of the sector´s functions.

11. Provide guidelines for beneficiaries’ interoperability information system by different entities.

12. Direct and guide the planning of the Administrative Sector of the Social Inclusion and Reconciliation to fulfill the functions performed by it.

13. Manage and build partnerships with the private sector, international organizations and other governments to facilitate and promote the achievement of the Sector´s objectives, in coordination with other relevant entities.

Blah, blah, blah, and I kid you not, the list goes on and on and on.

The country's Marxist narcoterror wars did do a lot to create displaced people struggling in the shantytowns of the capital, Medellin, and other bigger cities. Many were perfectly innocent farmers, who went on to struggle in Colombia's industries, but some did convert into a permanent underclass, with underclass values -- crime, unwed mothers, drugs, gang activity and destructive behavior -- as the documentary, La Sierra, about life in the slums of Medellin demonstrated. 

To get the aid, one must qualify for it by being a member of a favored special interest group, usually of the underclass variety.

From the website:

Therefore, the Overseer supports social participation mechanisms that allow citizens to exercise better control the activities of FIP. The reports prepared by the Special Overseer contain observations and recommendations to improve the development of the activities and purposes for which it was created the Investment Fund for Peace.

I am a woman

Women are the protagonists of the various programs for Social Prosperity because thanks to their tenacity and leadership they support their families and contribute to their country´s progress.

I have a family

To the families in poverty, Social Prosperity offers several programs that become opportunities for overcoming this situation and socio-economic stabilization. If you have a family that can be a More Families in Action beneficiary program, which provides financial incentives to registered families who send children to school and take them to health checks and nutrition as the program requires. In addition, families benefit from income generation programs which are supported with new businesses and competencies, the heads of household are strengthened to get a decent job.

I´m Young

What is Youth in Action?

Youth in Action is a Social Prosperity´s program that supports young people in poverty and vulnerability, with the delivery of Conditional Cash Transfers CCTs -TMC-, so they can continue their technical, technological and professional studies.

I am African- Indigenous

As indigenous and Afro-Colombian populations are vulnerable in the Social Prosperity program IRACA, it was created to support income generation, food security and strengthen organizations that inhabit collective territories.

... and if you aren't one of those things -- like a lot of single, military-aged young men flowing over the border, no goodies for you.

Sound like an appeal that's going to rope them back in to Colombia, to help Petro save face?

This doesn't even get into the fact that Petro is already detested by Colombia's citizens, and sports a 28% approval rating. Going by how expats tend to feel about these things, there's no doubt his approval rating from them is even lower.

But that isn't stopping him in his latest ridiculous effort to save face, by calling Colombians back and expecting that they will rally around him, joining him in his quest to Get Trump.

It's ridiculous. And even for the welfare class on U.S. benefits, Colombia's benefit packages are unlikely to match them, so even they are likely to shun the offer, though with ICE raids, some may return on their own for other reasons.

Of course his aim is political, and with a side of meddling in U.S. affairs.

He tried to rally America's proletariat and wokester youth to his side with an appeal to American patriotism:

La estatua de la libertad ya no alumbra.

Le corresponde a la juventud estadounidense y a los trabajadores y trabajadoras volver a encender la luz pic.twitter.com/i9yPcSiohd

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) January 31, 2025

Google Translate:

The Statue of Liberty no longer shines.

It is up to American youth and workers to turn the light back on

Hey, la revolucion, right?

But he also contradicted himself, promoting migrant ingratitude at U.S. graduation ceremonies, endorsing illegals who wave the flag of the country they are supposedly desperate not to be sent back to:

It just goes to show how inchoate he is, how ridiculous his efforts against a resolute Trump are, and how much laughter he will provoke when things don't work out like he thinks he will work out. One can only hope that Trump will have another opportunity for a mean tweet about it to make an example of him yet again. Petro in effect is saying 'thank you, may I have another,' and he's about to FAFO on that one, too. His kind of lefty doesn't learn.

Image: Shareable Grok meme, via X

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