Supporters of Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Bogotá on August 7. Guillermo Legaria (Getty Images)
The president-elect, Gustavo Petro, did not forget to mention Gabo in his investiture speech either, that famous phrase came to mind in which he recalled that “Human beings are not born forever the day their mothers give birth to them , but life forces them to give birth to themselves over and over again”.
At that time, I was watching a man swear to God and promise the people to faithfully comply with the Constitution and the laws of Colombia, that he would be a president who would last, and, above all, would fight for peace in his country.
And that, to get to where he is, he had to give birth to himself several times.
His life is not without a past through different phases that have taken him from being a member of the M19 guerrilla movement to being the president of Colombia.
But if something has marked a constant from then until now, it has been the history of the sequence of Bolívar's sword, which he even had an "order of the guardians of the sword".
For this reason, it was not difficult for him to request the military house, after being invested as president, to bring Bolívar's sword since Duque had not allowed it while he was president.
Bolívar's sword was stolen by the M19 guerrilla group in 1974 until it was returned to the Government in 1991 when the M19 laid down its arms.
Petro saw her again at the Palacio de Nariño when Duque was president.
For the first time in its history, Colombia has a left-wing government.
Latin America has not had an easy history, that of the last 200 years has left the mark of many failed policies and governments that were not necessarily democratic and that combined the interests of external powers and class interests of local elites that were far from the wishes and desires of the American peoples.
See caudillos, dictatorships, military coups, violence.
In the same way, we cannot resist criticizing those governments that are called leftist, as in Nicaragua, and that are the authoritarian whip that suffers from the minimum of humanity and that keeps political prisoners in unacceptable situations.
The world has changed, the left is marching by leaps and bounds with the demand for change of the new generations, it must be listened to and not fall into the idea of that outdated left that no longer represents anyone but some leaders who sullied causes such as the Sandinista and that they only listen to themselves.
The right, for its part, lost the yellow brick road a long time ago, it has no Emerald City to reach, they dismantled it with the aggressiveness of liberal policies that wreaked havoc in countries like Chile, when they were not able to implement the peace as in the Colombia of Duque.
Conservative elites must not try to stop history.
They must bet on societies with cohesion and drastic reduction of inequalities.
Among the tribulations of the past, the illusion of change has emerged, of the voices of the people, of the restoration of dignity for the indigenous populations that are, and know, part of the change, of the electoral processes as a guarantee of change;
the certainty of knowing that only the ballot box will change the destiny of nations and that nothing can prevent it.
It is the first step, establishing the roof that must house social democratic policies that advocate eliminating inequalities.
Gustavo Petro has it clear: Ten main bets of his Government, biodiversity, tax reform, more feminist policies, effective fight against drug trafficking and above all comply with the recommendations of the truth commission for the real and effective implementation of the Peace Agreements.
President Petro has put on the table the proposal of "total peace" that is happening, as Danilo Rueda, High Commissioner for Peace in Colombia, told us in Bogotá, in the resumption of peace talks with the Liberation Army guerrillas. (ELN) and with other armed groups, in addition to creating dialogue in the territories.
Foreign Minister Leiva traveled to Havana a few days ago with Senator Iván Cepeda and Danilo Rueda himself for the resumption of talks.
On August 12, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace made public a statement by the High Commissioner, which states, among other things, that “This Government officially announces that it recognizes the legitimacy of the Dialogue Delegation of the National Liberation Army in the search for peace.
Consequently,
Another very significant and emotional moment of the investiture speech was when María José Pizarro, daughter of former M19 commander and presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro, put the presidential sash on him on the day of the inauguration.
Peace will make its way, impunity and oblivion will not roam freely, the memory of the deceased will finally find the long-awaited justice and forgiveness, in turn, will find its own space.
The president's words make sense when he said “Peace is the meaning of my life, it is the hope of Colombia, we cannot fail Colombian society, the dead deserve it, the living need it.
Life must be the basis of peace, a fair and safe life, a life to live tasty, to live happily, so that happiness and progress are our identity”.
The future of Colombia will be decisive for the stability of the region.
And, if Lula wins, which is most likely, as the polls tell us, with Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico aligned on an agenda of progress, his influence will
grow .
as well as a possible regional integration that looks more likely than ever.
It is the opportunity not to forget the people, to fight for social justice, to work to eradicate inequality, to make Latin America a more prosperous continent.
Not to forget that, if necessary, we will give birth again as many times as it takes to fight for those causes such as peace that give meaning to our lives.
This time the president-elect must fulfill his commitment, the possibility of future births does not always count on the generosity of time.