Barcelona, Spain, Apr 17 (EFE).- Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned Friday that rising xenophobia and anti-immigration rhetoric in Europe echoes the ideology of Adolf Hitler, while praising Spain for what he described as a progressive stance on migration and the conflict with Iran.
«Diversity is the source of wealth. Xenophobia and winning elections through hatred of foreigners. and racial hatred, because it depends on skin color, that’s called Hitler. That’s Hitler,» Petro said during Los Desayunos organized by RTVE and EFE in Barcelona.
«Hitler is alive again in Europe and wants to send bombers to bomb European cities, as he did here nearby,» he added.
Within this context, Petro praised Spain’s position on migration and the conflict involving Iran, describing it as «at the forefront in Europe.»
«I think the Spanish position is at the forefront in Europe: recognizing that what has been done in Iran is an aggression that breaks international law and accepting that migration does not impoverish Europe, as Hitler said of the Jews, but enriches it,» he said.
Petro argued that excluding migrants means «excluding brains» and said progressive movements in Latin America, including his own government, defend freedom of movement.
«This is what must be achieved,» he added.
The Colombian president recalled that more than four million Colombians emigrated to Venezuela in the 1960s, while recent economic difficulties in Venezuela have reversed migration flows.
«Nothing has happened to us. They are part of the labor force, and in the end it was possible to assimilate the shock of migration,» Petro said.
He contrasted Colombia’s experience with Chile, where he said there are discussions about «evacuating Venezuelans.»
Petro said migration represents a «source of wealth» in a global economy increasingly driven by knowledge and skills rather than physical labor or skin color. EFE
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