The Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and former president Alvaro Uribe on Monday traded barbs once again, this time over the construction of free houses for the poor.
President Juan Manuel Santos delivered on Monday the first 91 of 100,000 free houses his administration has promised to deliver to Colombia’s most desperate citizens, a claim that Uribe disputed on Twitter.
“Why don’t you tell the truth to the people? The houses of [the municipality of] Pradera [in the Valle de Cauca department] came from the previous government,” tweeted Uribe.
Por qué no le dicen la verdad a la ciudadanía?Las casas de Pradera venían del Gbno anterior
— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) February 11, 2013
A retort came quickly from the Santos government, as housing Minister German Vargas Lleras fired off a tweet of his own.
“It’s false that the houses in Pradera were constructed by the previous government, and I frankly say that this [claim] does not correspond to reality,” tweeted Vargas Lleras.
Es falso que casas de Pradera, Valle, fueran construidas por el Gobierno anterior: tajantemente digo que eso no corresponde a la realidad.
— Germán Vargas Lleras (@German_Vargas) February 11, 2013
Santos and Uribe have been publicly squabbling for years and with the 2014 elections looming, together with the birth of Uribe’s new political party, the stage has been set for the heated exchanges between the two to continue.
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