In Colombia, Gustavo Petro is sworn in and becomes the country’s first left-wing president

A huge crowd of several hundred thousand people gathered in Bolivar Square in Bogota to attend, on Sunday August 7, the inauguration of the first left-wing president in the history of Colombia.

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By taking the oath in front of a large delegation of international guests, Gustavo Petro succeeded the very unpopular Ivan Duque (2018-2022) for a four-year term which he begins with the support of a left-wing majority in Congress. Colombia, long ruled by a conservative elite, is thus on a trajectory common to other Latin American countries that are experiencing a left turn.

This 62-year-old former guerrilla has notably offered armed groups operating in Colombia “legal benefits” if they signed the peace: “We call on (…) all armed groups to relegate weapons to the nebulae of the past. To accept legal advantages in exchange for peace and in exchange for the definitive cessation of violence”he launched.

Although the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, Marxists) in 2016 has reduced violence, Colombia has not yet extinguished the continent’s last internal armed conflict.

In addition to the ELN, powerful gangs of drug traffickers such as the Clan del Golfo, led by Baron “Otoniel” extradited this year to the United States, impose their law in several regions of the country. And FARC dissidents are also challenging the state with resources from illegal mining and, above all, drug trafficking.

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Bringing “tranquility and peace” to Colombia

On this point, Mr. Petro proposes to rethink the failure of the crop eradication policy, in collaboration with the United States, the main consumer of this coca leaf derivative.

He further felt that he was “time to have a new international convention that accepts that the war on drugs has failed”to prefer a “strong consumption prevention policy” in developed countries. According to him, in forty years of fighting drugs, “one million Latin Americans” were murdered and 70,000 North Americans succumbed “every year to overdoses”.

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, with the United States as its largest customer. “The war on drugs has strengthened the mafias and weakened the States”noted the one who left the armed rebellion three decades ago.

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“The first government, which we hope will be a government of peace, is about to begin. We hope he can bring to Colombia what it hasn’t had for centuries, namely tranquility and peace.”he had already declared, on Saturday, in the capital during a first ceremony of enthronement among the indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians and peasants.

“I don’t want two countries, just as I don’t want two societies. I want a strong, fair and united Colombia”he said, moved, during his induction speech on Sunday.

A plural government with women at the head of several portfolios

This photo released by the Presidential Press Office shows Colombia's new head of state Gustavo Petro swearing in Vice President Francia Marquez during their inauguration ceremony in Bolivar Square in Bogota on August 7, 2022.

The former opposition leader for two decades takes office with a battery of reforms in mind that have raised high expectations among his supporters since his victory on June 19.

Alongside her, environmentalist Francia Marquez, 40, is the first Afro-Colombian vice-president of a nation that has historically been ruled by white male elites. Gustavo Petro has formed a plural government, with women at the head of several portfolios, with the mission of advancing the reforms which will begin their legislative journey on Monday.

In search of resources to finance social reform plans, bills intend to increase taxes on the richest, improve their collection and tax sugary drinks. But “the level of indebtedness and budget deficit that we found is critical”said Daniel Rojas, one of the coordinators of the transition commission with the government of his predecessor Ivan Duque.

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Mr. Petro nevertheless intends to fulfill his promise to reduce the gap between the richest and the poorest by developing access to credit, increasing aid and emphasizing education. “I will fight for social justice in one of the most aberrant societies of inequality on Earth”he said on Saturday.

While Colombia’s economy has recovered from the pandemic and returned to growth, July’s 10.2% year-on-year inflation, unemployment (11.7%) and 39% poverty make the challenges even greater.

Reducing the external debt to “transform it into concrete actions” for the climate

Internationally, Mr. Petro will reactivate the diplomatic and trade relations severed since 2019 with neighboring Venezuela of Nicolas Maduro, and seek support to resume peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last guerrilla recognized in the country.

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Gustavo Petro also proposed in his investiture speech to create an international fund to protect the Amazon, plagued by deforestation. “We can transform the entire population of the Colombian Amazon into a forest protector population, but we need funding from all over the world to do this”he said.

To protect the “lung of the planet”Mr. Petro suggested to the international community to reduce external debt in favor of equity financing “to save and restore our forests”.

“If the IMF [Fonds monétaire international] helps turn debt into real action against the climate crisis, we will get a prosperous new economy and new life for humanity”he explained.

In particular, he campaigned by promising to accelerate the transition to clean energy sources and to curb deforestation in the Amazon, whose ecosystem is crucial for absorbing greenhouse gases. According to environmental organizations, Colombia lost at least 7,018 km of forest during the tenure of his predecessor Ivan Duque.2. Huge fires are the main cause of deforestation in the Amazon, caused in particular by intensive animal husbandry, agricultural exploitation and the cultivation of drugs.

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Le Monde with AFP and Reuters

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