Colombia's president calls on artists to criticize 'genocide' against Palestinians

By Sinan Dogan

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged artists on Monday to hold a major concert in the country in protest against the Israeli ''genocide'' against the Palestinian people.

Quoting remarks on social media by the famous Puerto Rican rapper Rene Perez Joglar, also known as "Residente," who criticized the ''genocide'' committed by Israel against the civilian population of Palestine, Petro issued a call on X to all artists to join him in a concert in the capital Bogota.

“I would like Rene and everyone who wants to use art to criticize the genocide against the Palestinian people to join me in the Plaza de Bolivar or in Simon Bolivar Park in Bogota in a great concert against genocide and for life,” he wrote on X.

“Let a cry of humanity against infamy come out of Bogota. And from there, we go to Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla and the regions of Colombia, go out in caravans to find us in the middle of art and music to come together to shout ‘Enough, stop the killing!”

The Puerto Rican rapper last month announced that he had postponed his new album due to the ongoing conflict in Palestine and called out the music industry for not denouncing the ''genocide'' in Gaza.