Gustavo Petro: First Leftist President Faces Tough Challenge In Colombia

Gabriel Garcia spent 12 years of his youth in an urban guerrilla unit, earning for 100 years of solitude the nickname of a revolutionary general. He would later become a progressive mayor and senator in the Colombian capital Bogota. Failing to overcome the conservative wall erected around the Colombian presidency almost two centuries ago, he ran for president twice.

But on Sunday, Gustavo Petro, 62, finally broke through the wall and was elected president, making history as South America's first left-wing head of state.

“We will not betray the voters who screamed in history,” Petro said in a victory speech in Bogotá on Sunday evening. "Colombia is changing today."

Some members of the M-19 guerrilla movement were arrested for carrying weapons as children even before Peter arrived at the presidential palace in Bogotá. He also said that he survived the ordeal. The M-19 was decommissioned in 1990 and some members signed the current Colombian constitution. Other members were assassinated that year, including his presidential candidate, Carlos Pizarro.

Petro's victory over Rodolfo Hernandez, the business magnate who once called Hitler "Germany's great thinker" and pro-Gaffa and Bucaramanga mayor, was met with supporters celebrating in the streets across the country. He will take office in early August.

Elections in Colombia: Gustavo Petro elected as the first left-wing president - video

“Petro has a completely different point of view because he focuses on the most sensitive people in the country,” said Andrés Felipe Barro, who voted for Petro on Sunday evening. "These include people living on the outskirts of Colombia's major cities, as well as black and indigenous communities."

As mayor of Bogota, he is known for his prudence and uncompromising attitude towards his critics, the implementation of harm reduction programs for the city's homeless, and work on waste management reform.

Petro's vice president was Francia Marquez, the first black woman to hold the post. Marquez, a sole mother and human rights activist in Colombia's waning Pacific, received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Award in 2018.

“After 214 years, we have created a people's government, a people's government, a branded people, a people's government under their feet, a Colombian government,” Marquez said gleefully.

Despite the hustle and bustle of a Sunday evening, Petro can be very busy in the office. 50.47% of the vote gave him very few mandates, and most countries view him with extreme skepticism, equating him with rebel groups and the strong left in the region.

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“In a traditionally conservative right-wing country, some Colombians fear how much the left-wing government could change,” Sylvana Amaya, chief analyst at Global Risk Advisory Risk Control, said ahead of Sunday's vote. “Some Colombians compare the left to the socio-economic hardships of Chavez and Venezuela. Others say that a country led by a group of leftist guerrillas that has endured more than 60 years of civil unrest should not be allowed to run Colombia.

His plan to divert the Colombian economy away from fossil fuels and focus on agriculture could cause panic in the market.

Supporters of Gustavo Petro celebrate his victory in Bogotá. Photo: Parla Bayona / Longvisual / Friday Press Wire / Rex / Shutterstock

Despite concerns about Petro's victory, election day passed without accusations of violence or fraud, much to the surprise of some in a country with a long history of political bloodshed.

“Today we celebrate democracy in Colombia and its peaceful elections,” Brian A. Nichols, assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, wrote on Sunday. "We look forward to working with the Petro administration to advance the common cause of the Colombian people and Americans."

Also on Petro's agenda is the fragile peace process signed in 2016 with rebels from the left-wing Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), ending a fifty-year civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people and forced six to flee their homes. million homeless. Nation.

The deal was hampered by the failure of President Evan Duke's administration, which was accused of deliberately slowing its spread. Other insurgent groups such as the dissident group FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN) continue to destroy rural areas and profit from drug trafficking and usurpation.

“The most promising candidate, and above all, 2016, has been chosen to implement the peace deal,” said Adam Isaacson, director of the Latin American Bureau of Defense Oversight in Washington, an American think tank. "A key element of Petro's plan is to improve governance and basic services in derelict rural areas where armed groups and Coca-Cola continue to thrive, and that's a key commitment to the peace deal."

Edinson Bolanos contributed to the account of Bogota.

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