President of Colombia, Ivan Duque, Visits University, Receives Award And Key To Miami

By: Fabian Osorio / Staff Writer

 

Colombian President Ivan Duque was awarded the “FIU Medallion of Courage” last Saturday, Sept. 30, at Florida International University.

Mark B. Rosenberg, FIU president, welcomed the President of Colombia, Ivan Duque, and presented him with the award of “courage” speaking in Spanish.

“I want to express my gratitude, Doctor Rosenberg, for welcoming me with a lot of affection; and believe me, this award touched my heart,” Duque said. “We have a lot of courage to fight for our country.”

Approximately 300 people from different parts of Florida attended the event. Some attendees said they drove three hours to see Duque. 

Duque opened his speech by greeting all Colombians that were either actively involved in the community, actively in Miami or had served as representatives in public services in Florida. 

He also extended his greetings to the members of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ).

“The Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela is fighting against the dictatorship,” Duque said.

During the event, Ivan Duque touched on various topics such as Colombia’s economic and political challenges, ongoing conflict with the FARC guerrillas, as well as the situation of more than one million Venezuelan immigrants. 

He also took advantage of his visit to FIU to address the peace situation in Colombia. According to him, it was clear that his government did not play politics when it came to peace and the government would not end the process of peace.

Duque supports all the Colombians who may have been involved in violent incidents in the past and now wish to start a fresh chapter in their life. However, he is against people who don’t want to cooperate with the law of the land.   

“Our government wants to bring to Colombia peace together with justice and the rule of law,” Duque said. “The peace process affects each and every citizen of Colombia. The only enemies of peace are the ones who want violence, terrorism, and criminality.” 

One more honor was extended to Duque during the event. He received the key of Miami-Dade County, Florida, from Mayor Carlos Jiménez.

“Between the two nations, now is the perfect time to develop a better partnership in areas such as trade and commerce,” Jimenez said in a speech. “This key is a symbol that opens the door to a major collaboration between us, and we see a better future for our communities.”  

This was the first time that a Colombian President accepted a new Sister City Program between South Miami and the City of Medellin, Colombia, according to Miami’s Community Newspapers.

According to Miami’s Community Newspapers, this was the first-ever Sister City agreement for the City of South Miami in its history of over 90 years, and the 2nd Sister City designation in the U.S. for Medellin.

During the last week of September, the world leaders traveled to New York City for the 74th United Nations General Assembly to discuss the humanitarian situation in Venezuela.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Duque accused Venezuela’s regimen of helping guerrillas and criminal groups in Colombia.

“This week, we have condemned the authoritarian regime of Nicolas Maduro. Our accusations are not new, we have been accusing all terrorist groups operating in his territory,” Duque said. “I want to make clear: we will continue to accuse all criminals involved in all possible scenarios.”