The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, reiterated today his rejection of the possibility of armed aggression against Cuba during a speech delivered at the National University’s capital campus.

The President, who visited the institution to hand over "Block A" of the Faculty of Arts, also referred to the scientific and cultural capacities of the island, stating that it deserves recognition and support for its transcendental achievements.

"If there is an artistic and cultural vanguard in Latin America, it is called Cuba. If we look at the COVID era that we all suffered through, the only society in Latin America and the Caribbean that was capable of developing a vaccine when it was needed (…) which saved I don’t know how many lives, starting with Cuban lives, was Cuba," he expressed before a largely young audience that applauded him.

The Head of State further affirmed in his address that "if a society in the midst of the global crisis we experienced was capable of creating an effective vaccine with the necessary speed, then that society, instead of being invaded and bombed, should be applauded and helped."

The facility delivered today by Petro, which will benefit more than 3,200 students, consists of 12,095 square meters, of which 7,958 correspond to the built area and 4,137 to outdoor spaces and surrounding zones, as previously reported by the Presidency. It integrates classrooms, workshops, specialized laboratories, an auditorium, creative spaces, autonomous study areas, welfare services, and administrative offices.

During his speech, the leader also highlighted the expansion of public universities, which, for this semester, will reach 400,000 new spots, raising higher education coverage from 54.9% in 2022 to 59.7% in 2026.

He noted that during his administration, the National University received half a trillion pesos (more than 134 million dollars at the current exchange rate) for infrastructure, not including the resources granted through the free tuition policy, which currently covers more than 92% of undergraduate enrollment and benefits more than 43,000 students. This measure is bolstered by the modification of Law 30, which guarantees that free tuition budgets are permanent and non-reversible.

Petro pointed out in his intervention that only "knowledge is what saves us," and it is what will make nations great.

"Knowledge plus computational capacity; this is what we have been working on," he concluded.