Gustavo Petro has already argued that bitcoin would be a good option, but now he advocates taking a percentage of the population's savings from banks, which he called "forced investments".
Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia elected in 2022. Twitter
Colombia's president has raised a new controversy with what he called forced investments, which are expected to affect savings in the country.
At a public event last week, he declared that he intends to stimulate the Colombian economy with several measures. But one of them has caused controversy, as he wants a percentage of savings in banks to be invested in the government.
“I want the Colombian Congress to approve forced investments for the export industry, for housing improvements and new housing, and for the popular economy. They already exist for agriculture,” Petro said via X/Twitter.
Although the current president has previously defended Bitcoin against the seigniorage of banks over national fiat currencies, Petro now intends to use the funds to invest in the state. Considered one of the left-wing politicians in Latin America, he has received numerous criticisms for the measure announced.
Opposition senator criticizes new forced investments with Colombian people's savings
Despite the new government's measure predicting a boost to the economy with the savings of the Colombian people, the opposition in the country has already made it clear that it will fight against it.
Senator María Fernanda Cabal was an opposition politician who spoke out against the proposal. According to her, the money in savings accounts belongs to the savers, not to an irresponsible government. In her post, she included an excerpt from the event in which Petro spoke about the new measures for savings accounts.
“Taking public savings out of banks? The money belongs to savers, not to the coffers of a financially irresponsible government.”
Taking public savings out of banks? The money belongs to savers, not to the petty cash of a financially irresponsible government. pic.twitter.com/ZdNABIGezL
— Maria Fernanda Cabal (@MariaFdaCabal) August 10, 2024
It is worth remembering that in 2021, a year before Gustavo Petro became president of Colombia, a plan by the former government already provided for a general confiscation of savings in the country. In other words, the measure is not new, but it alerts the population to a problem that already occurred in Brazil, during the Collor government.
Despite Gustavo Petro's wishes, he still needs to get his new measures approved by the Colombian Congress.
Gustavo Petro has spoken about Bitcoin in the past
Current Colombian President Gustavo Petro has already shown himself to be a long-time supporter of bitcoin, including its mining.
In 2021, for example, he defended El Salvador in its project of large-scale adoption of bitcoin, indicating that Colombia should follow suit. However, in addition to not following the advice after becoming president, Petro has not yet carried out any projects linked to Bitcoin in the country.
Before that, in 2017, he had published that Bitcoin takes away the issuing power from states and the seigniorage of currency from banks.
“Bitcoin removes the issuing power from states and the seigniorage of currency from banks. It is a community currency that is based on the trust of those who carry out transactions with it, because it is based on the blockchain, trust is measured and grows, hence its strength.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro in 2017 defended bitcoin as a promising currency
With his new forced investment plan, it seems that he understands that banks are the weak points of the current Colombian financial system. However, there is no current plan from the president involving bitcoin to improve Colombia’s situation.
