Gustavo Petro is considered today the first left-wing president of Colombia.

Colombia A new political era begins this Sunday with the inauguration of Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in history, who promises profound transformation in an unjust country plagued by drug-related violence.

The 62-year-old former senator, who left the armed uprising three decades ago, will be sworn in around 3:00 pm (local time) in front of a large delegation of foreign guests.

Petrowho will succeed the unpopular Ivan Duque in power, rule for four years a country of 50 million that will enter the orbit of the left for the first time in the region, and which could be cemented by Lula’s likely return to power in Brazil.

“The first government, which we hope will be the government of the world, must begin work. Colombia What has not been in it for centuries is calm and peace. This is where the government starts that will fight for environmental justice,” Petro said at an event in Bogotá on Saturday.

The leader of the opposition for the past two decades is taking office with a series of reforms and the expectations of half the country that voted for him in the June 19 election.

Beside Petro Environmentalist Francia Marquez (40) will become the first African Vice President of a country historically ruled by an elite of white males.

Colombia Thus, he enters a period of change, with the left in power, a Congress in his favor and a weakened opposition after the fall of former President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), head of the right.

Petro part of an “enviable position, with an overwhelming majority in Congress and, from a street perspective, has a backing that no other government has had in recent years,” Jorge Restrepo, an analyst with the Resource Center for Conflict Analysis (Cerac), told AFP.

first changes

Petro He has assembled a cabinet of various trends, with women at the head of several portfolios and a reform mission that will begin its legislative course on Monday.

Among them is a project that will raise taxes on the richest, regulate the collection and lock in sugary drinks, in search of resources for social plans.

“The level of debt and budget deficit that we will find over the next four years is critical,” said Daniel Rojas, one of the coordinators of the commission to connect with the Duque government.

However, Petro proposed to close the gap between rich and poor, one of the biggest on the continent, along with Brazil, with greater access to credit, subsidies and public education.

After the devastating effects of the pandemic, the economy is recovering its growth, although inflation, which reached 10.2% year-over-year in July, unemployment (11.7%) and poverty, which affects 39% of the population, cloud the picture.

“People are hoping that some of the changes promised in the campaign will happen sooner, which will exacerbate the economic situation (…) and create an atmosphere of tension,” said Patricia Muñoz, a political scientist at Javerian University.

On the international front, Petro will resume diplomatic and commercial relations with the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, interrupted since 2019, and will seek support and headquarters to resume peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last guerrilla unit recognized in Venezuela. , country.

reverse dialogues

While a peace agreement with FARC, a former far-left armed organization, has reduced the violence, Colombia has still not succeeded in quelling the last internal armed conflict on the continent.

In addition to the ELN, powerful drug gangs such as the Clan del Golfo, led by capo Othoniel, who was extradited to the United States this year, are enforcing their laws in various parts of the country.

Dissenters who have been excluded from the peace pact also challenge the state with illegal mining resources and, mostly, drug trafficking.

Petro He also gets the world’s largest cocaine-producing country, in response to which he proposes to rethink the failed drug prohibition policy together with the United States, the main consumer of the coca leaf derivative.

Along with an invitation to dialogue with the ELN, Petro will offer armed groups to submit in exchange for criminal gains in reforming or disbanding the riot police involved in human rights violations during the suppression of mass protests in recent years.

Also “we will see slow changes in the military (…), but I think we can rule out any civil unrest, uprisings, sit-ins or a decrease in operational activity,” says analyst Cerac. . (According to AFP)