Gustavo Petro’s Official Visit to Osaka 2025 Expo
President Gustavo Petro is currently making an official visit to Japan, where the much-anticipated Osaka 2025 Universal Expo is taking place. During this visit, President Petro explored the pavilion of the Colombian delegation and took to his social media platforms, expressing immense pride in highlighting the prominence of the Tolimense Lechona. In his enthusiastic remarks, he referred to it as the most popular dish at the event.
Lechona: The Star of the Expo
The Colombian president declared, “The most famous dish of the fair turned out to be the milky. There are 10 million tons of piglet sold at the fair, with the longest ranks.” These striking statistics are reminiscent of more traditional fast food items, effectively situating Lechona within a culinary dialogue with hamburgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches.
However, upon scrutiny, such claims are somewhat questionable. The assertion that ten million tons of Lechona were sold translates to a staggering ten billion kilograms of meat—an exceedingly high figure that is difficult to substantiate.
Reactions on Social Media
The improbability of these statistics quickly caught the attention of social media users and prompted a witty response from former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. His retort on his X (formerly Twitter) account was sharp and critical: “That the Japanese will not think about the accounts of the president that in Colombia we are ten million marranos.”
The former president’s comments spurred a flurry of reactions online, with some users supporting him while others expressed their disapproval of the tone and content of his criticisms. Noteworthy responses included remarks like “Nah already with Iván Duque is enough,” and “Don Álvaro, Trino,” reflecting a tense atmosphere between the political figures.
Discrepancies in Attendance Numbers
Notably, this is not the first instance where President Petro has utilized hyperbolic figures during his Japan visit. Earlier, he claimed that 1,300,000 million people had visited the Colombian pavilion in Osaka, a number that grossly exceeds the global population by a factor of over 150. The actual data from Procolombia indicates a much more realistic figure of 1.3 million attendees at the national stand.
These dubious claims did not go unnoticed, generating humor and skepticism on social media. One user humorously commented: “You really are telling me that 10 million tons of milky were sold? We no longer need tax reform,” referring to Petro’s recent proposals aimed at balancing Colombia’s state finances for the year 2026.
Meanwhile, the mayors of Colombia’s largest cities are embarking on a trip to Washington, D.C. on September 7, 2025, to lobby against the potential designation of Colombia in terms of drug trafficking. President Petro expressed his disapproval on his X account, emphasizing that they “are not authorized to represent Colombia.”
In a follow-up, Uribe again engaged in the conversation, warning that future government actions should prioritize building robust institutional relations with mayors and governors, regardless of their political affiliation.
As local leaders prepare for their crucial meetings within the U.S. government and international organizations, the political discourse surrounding Petro and Uribe continues to unfold, demonstrating the complexities of Colombian politics in the 21st century.