By Manuel
Rueda
Gustavo Petro will become Colombia's first left-wing president this Sunday, a mandate that he assumes with the promise of fighting inequality and starting a new stage in the history of a country that has dragged on a long conflict between the government and groups rebels.
A former guerrilla of the April 19 Movement (M-19), Petro won the presidential elections in June by beating conservative parties that offered moderate changes in the market economy but failed to connect with voters frustrated by rising poverty and violence against human rights leaders and environmentalists in rural areas.
The new president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro.Fernando Vergara / AP
Petro, who was a senator until July, is part of a growing group of leftist politicians and outsiders who have won elections in Latin America since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, when the economies of many countries governed on the right were affected.
This former rebel's victory was also unique for Colombia, where voters have historically been reluctant to back leftists who are often accused of being soft on crime or allied with guerrillas.
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The peace agreement reached in 2016 between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) diverted much of the attention of voters from the violent conflicts that take place in rural areas and gave importance to problems such as poverty and corruption, fueling the popularity of leftist parties in national elections.
Petro, 62, has vowed to tackle social and economic inequalities in the country, boosting spending on anti-poverty programs and increasing investment in rural areas.
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He has described as "great failure" the fight against drug trafficking promoted by the United States, such as the forced eradication of illegal coca crops.
But he has also said he would like to work with the US administration "as equals," drawing up plans to combat the climate emergency or bring infrastructure to rural areas where many farmers say coca is the only viable crop.
Petro has also made alliances with environmentalists during his presidential campaign and has promised to make Colombia "a world power for life" by curbing deforestation and taking steps to reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels.
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In this sense, the incoming president has stated that Colombia will stop granting new licenses for oil exploration and will prohibit hydraulic fracturing projects, despite the fact that the oil industry represents almost 50% of the country's legal exports.
He plans to fund social spending with a $10 billion-a-year tax overhaul that would raise taxes on the wealthy and eliminate tax breaks for businesses.
The new president has also said that he wants to start peace talks with the rebel groups that continue to fight for drug routes, gold mines and other resources abandoned by the FARC after its peace agreement with the government.
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"He has a very ambitious agenda," said Yan Basset, a political scientist at Bogotá's Universidad del Rosario.
"But he will have to prioritize. The risk Petro faces is that he goes after too many reforms at once and gets nothing" in Colombia's Congress, he warned.
His government will not only be historic for being the first leftist in charge of Colombia, but also because the activist Francia Márquez will become the country's first black vice president.
The social leader for the defense of the environment, who was a domestic worker and was born in one of the areas most affected by the armed conflict in the country, was key to Petro's triumph.
For many, she represents feminism and the regions and communities most affected by poverty and violence.
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At least 10 heads of state are expected to attend Petro's inauguration, which will take place in a large colonial-era plaza across from Congress.
Stages with live music and large screens will also be set up in parks in downtown Bogotá so that tens of thousands of citizens without invitation to the main event can also join the festivities.
This is a big change for Colombia, where previous presidential inaugurations were more sombre events, limited to a few hundred guests.
"We want the Colombian people to be the protagonist," Petro press officer Marisol Rojas said in a statement.
"This inauguration will be the first example of a new way of governing, in which all forms of life are respected and in which there is room for everyone."
