After a recent ruling of the Colombian Constitutional Court said that bullfighting should be allowed to return to the capital Bogotá despite the city stopped it in 2020, the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, is asking Congress to pass a law to ban bullfighting in the entire country.
The Constitutional Court ordered the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá to allow the bullring of la Santamaría to stage bullfights again. Claudia López, the mayor of the capital, will request clarification from the Constitutional Court in light of agreement 767 of 2020 of the Council of Bogotá, which orders the district authorities not to allow the mistreatment or death of bulls.
President Petro, known to be against bullfighting, sent a message to senators and representatives to act in favour of the defence of animals that are tortured to death in these spectacles. In a tweet, he wrote, “The ruling of the Constitutional Court on Santamaría says that Congress through the law is the only entity that can suspend bullfights in bullrings of proven bullfighting tradition. I ask Congress to approve the law to suspend all shows with animal abuse.”
Representative Katherine Miranda, of the Green Alliance, said the ruling was “a setback that we will fight in Congress. All life is sacred!” Luis Ernesto Gómez, the former Secretary of Government of Bogotá, showed his displeasure with the decision and urged the Colombian Legislature to take action on the matter, saying, “after the regrettable ruling of the Court that orders the return of bullfighting in Bogotá, it is urgent that the House approve the bill of Senator Andrea Padilla. Congress is just two debates away from making history!”
Senator Andrea Padilla tabled a bill in the Senate which seeks to ban bullfighting gradually in the entire country. On 15th December 2022, the Senate of the Republic of Colombia approved this bill with 50 votes in favour and four against. Padilla said this about the president’s tweet: “Thank you for your support of the project, President Petro! We are going to the fifth committee in the House and the plenary with David Racero. We will make it!”
