BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday signed a invoice that bans bullfights within the South American nation, additional lowering the brief record of countries around the globe the place the centuries-old custom continues to be authorized.
Petro signed it in entrance of a whole bunch of animal rights activists throughout a ceremony held in Bogota’s bullring, after a supporter in a bull costume handed him a replica of the laws.
“We cannot tell the world that killing living and sentient beings for entertainment is culture,” Petro mentioned in a speech after signing the invoice. “That kind of culture of killing an animal for entertainment would also lead us to killing human beings for entertainment, because we are also animals.”
The bullfighting ban was permitted by Colombia’s Congress in Could, after months of heated debates. The invoice calls on the federal government to fully ban bullfights throughout the nation by 2027, and orders the federal government to show greater than a dozen bullrings into cultural and sporting venues.
Bullfights have been held in Colombia since Spanish colonial occasions. However the recognition of the game has declined lately as views on animal rights modified.
Bullfighting aficionados in Colombia argue the ban violates the rights of minorities to precise their cultural heritage. They add that it additionally jeopardizes the livelihoods of those that make a dwelling from bullfighting, comparable to matadors, occasion promoters, retailers and ranchers who specialise in breeding the aggressive and muscular animals utilized in bullfights.
On Monday, professional bullfighting teams launched a social media marketing campaign in help of the custom, saying the invoice was permitted with out the help of Colombia’s labor ministry. Supporters have additionally mentioned they’ll problem the legislation in Colombia’s Constitutional Courtroom.
Solely seven international locations now enable bullfights: Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. Nevertheless, some municipal and regional governments inside these international locations have imposed native bans.
Petro has been an opponent of bullfights since he was Bogota’s mayor. In 2012, he repealed a metropolis contract that allowed bullfighting occasion promoters to make use of the town’s bullfighting area.
Animal rights activists in Colombia had been lobbying Congress to ban bullfights for 20 years, typically shedding key votes by slender margins. However in Could, they lastly pushed the ban by with the assistance of legislators from Petro’s Historic Pact Occasion and with votes from some members of centrist and conservative events.
“For many years we have staged protests, we have lobbied congress and we have tried to win the hearts of Colombia’s people,” mentioned Chucho Merchan, a vegan activist and musician who spoke at Monday’s occasion. “So that in this country that has so much violence, we can give an example that it is possible to evolve towards a world with more justice, that is free of cruelty.”