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2022-06-20T00:46:54.168Z


The dream of change reaches the presidency. Gustavo Petro begins the long and winding road to show that he is as good at promising as he is at delivering


Francia Márquez, elected vice president of Colombia, after voting. STRINGER (REUTERS)

It is the first day of the rest of our lives for Colombians.

The phrase comes from the wacky Latin American adaptation of the title of

St. Elmos's Fire

, an old 1985 movie with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore.

The film narrates the uncertainty experienced by a group of friends, recently graduated, facing the challenges that real life implies.

The truth is that the original title would also apply to what Colombia experiences: the fire of Santo Elmo or San Telmo, that resplendent phenomenon, of electrical origin, that surrounds the masts of ships during storms and that is ominous.

Some sailors, like the Spaniards in the years of the conquest of America, did not believe that it was a bad sign, but, on the contrary, a way in which their employer announced special protection to them.

After the glare, lightning struck directly into the canopy of engineer Rodolfo Hernández, whose "triumph" did not go beyond a couple of bulletins from the Registrar's Office.

The mistakes of the last stretch of the campaign cost him who, having been a striker for a lifetime, chose to take refuge in his den, while Gustavo Petro capitalized on that weakness, inviting him to get into the debate ring without success.

Or, with great success, because that attitude of being willing to do anything in the task of confronting ideas added weight to Hernández's feet who, despite a not inconsiderable vote, went straight to the bottom of the sea.

It is up to President Petro, surrounded by some showy figures from the establishment, to show that he is not, as journalist Felipe López said in a column a few weeks ago, a "wolf in wolf's clothing."

That some of the fears about his administration are just myths: that he will not expropriate, that he will not bring chaos to the pensions scene, that he will not foster a “communist dictatorship”, that he will not scare away foreign investment, that he will not send the devil (which some believe is him!) the oil industry and that he will not make taxes a tool of retaliation.

Senator Roy Barreras, shortly after the victory trend was confirmed, declared that the polarization ended with Petro's victory.

It remains to be seen, because the wounds are deep and do not heal as if by the art of urns.

If Petro shows gallantry and resists the temptation of revenge, we will probably know some kind of peace of mind.

Votes, however, elect presidents, but they don't necessarily transform nations.

Petro finds a divided country and strong sectors that do not receive him with applause and flyers.

Petro has not had, throughout his career, a greater inclination to accept the criticism of his opponents or the task of the media, whom he usually puts on the same shelf where he places his enemies.

Already president, he urges him to understand that, as a public servant, he must accept the challenges to his management and disarm the spirit to concentrate on execution.

The presidents are not asked to refrain from defending their management, but proportionality in that task and the ability not to grade comments on their work as an attack of a personal nature are demanded of them.

Petro needs to assimilate the victory with a large dose of moderation, because the pendulum has swung to have a first president from the left (although he also avoids the label), but Hernández's generous vote shows that not the whole country is going, delighted, after The Pied Piper of Ciénaga de Oro.

“Govern Colombia”, the three most difficult words to practice in these effervescent lands.

"A popular victory," Petro said in his first reaction.

The harsh tests of social, economic and security reality that lie ahead will test a popularity that is only underpinned by decisions of tangible progress.

Colombia, the country that signed peace only to continue at war, faces a future that, at present, continues to float in the clouds of political discourse, of oratory.

The real country waits to see how solid its new president is.

It would be enormous clumsiness to wish him failure, taking refuge in petty ideological or partisan arguments.

Candidity of equal depth, to think that promising change is already having achieved it.

Petro's pact convinced a majority of voters.

In his hands is to become a president of historical dimension.

Colombia already has a president.

It only remains to discover that he will honor his word.

And that we are all going to live tasty.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-06-20

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