With Petro in power, how will his relationship with the US be?
1:25
(CNN Spanish) --
The elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, spoke with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, on Tuesday, Petro announced.
Posting on Twitter, the president-elect said: "On the road to a more intense and normal diplomatic relationship I have now had a very friendly conversation with President Biden of the USA.
In his words, a "more egalitarian" relationship for the benefit of both peoples".
On the way to a more intense and normal diplomatic relationship, I have now had a very friendly conversation with President Biden of the United States.
In his words, a "more equal" relationship for the benefit of both peoples.
advertising
– Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 21, 2022
The leftist candidate won the elections in Colombia by obtaining more than 11 million votes in the second presidential round, according to the results of the Registrar's Office.
Petro defines himself as a "progressive" leftist leader in a highly traditional and right-wing country.
He proposes making the economy "revolve around life", betting on natural wealth and environmental protection, as well as "deepen democracy", and make an economic structure "based on production and not on extraction" , as he said in an interview with CNN in July 2021.
Petro was the second most voted candidate in 2018 against Iván Duque, in a highly polarized campaign in which many chose not to align themselves with either of the two candidates who represented the extremes.
Many others, afraid of "being like Venezuela" as the Democratic Center campaign said, voted against Petro, supporting Duque, the current president of Colombia.
However, in this campaign, Petro showed a more moderate tone, criticized by many in his ranks, for uniting with traditional politicians who run the so-called political machines.
With information from Juan Carlos Lopez and Claudia Rebaza
