Gustavo Petro took office this Sunday as the first leftist president of Colombia proposing new peace agreements with the armed groups that finance drug trafficking and the end of the "drug war" which he considers a failure.
In his first speech as head of state, the 62-year-old former senator and former guerrilla outlined profound changes for this country of 50 million inhabitants, plagued by inequality, the economic lags of the pandemic, and cyclical violence for more than 60 years.
"It is time for change (…) Today begins the Colombia of the possible. We are here against all odds, against a story that said we were never going to govern, against the usual, against those who did not want to let go of power"he highlighted.
With the assumption of Petro, Colombia enters for the first time in the orbit of the left in the region that could be consolidated with the probable victory of Lula in Brazil.
Before hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the Plaza de Bolívar, in the center of Bogotá, and nine invited presidents, Petro promised to "achieve true and definitive peace" in his four-year term.
In this sense, he said that he will comply with the agreement with the FARC, the guerrilla that signed peace in 2016 to become a political party, and offered the groups that remain in arms criminal benefits if they renounce violence.
"We call (…) all the armed to lay down their weapons in the nebulae of the past. To accept legal benefits in exchange for peace"said.
However, he did not specify whether his offer implies a reduction in sentences or alternative sanctions to prison, such as those agreed with the dissolved Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
– Anti-drug failure –
Several organizations remain in arms, such as the National Liberation Army, recognized as the last guerrilla in the country, the dissident groups that did not accept the peace pact, and the Clan del Golfo, the largest drug gang headed by capo ‘Otoniel" extradited in May to the United States.
The groups, which are nourished by the income from drug trafficking, have separately stated their intention to dialogue with the new government.
Petro also sent a veiled message to the United States by proposing the end of the "failed drug war" that Washington has encouraged for four decades.
"It is time for a new international convention that accepts that the war on drugs has failed"said the first left-wing president of the country with the world’s largest cocaine production.
Petro proposed changing the "failure for success" and end the drug war "for a policy of strong consumption prevention in developed societies".
– The sword of controversy –
Wearing a blue suit and black tie, Petro swore in environmentalist Francia Márquez as Colombia’s first Afro-presidential vice president.
After committing to "faithfully comply with the Constitution and the laws of Colombia"ordered to bring the sword of the independence hero Simón Bolívar from the presidential headquarters.
His predecessor Iván Duque refused to give it up for the investiture ceremony. The sword was the founding symbol of the M-19, the guerrilla in which Petro was a member until his demobilization in 1990 and which was stolen by that organization in 1974 and returned with the signing of the peace agreement.
Petro began his government with a battery of reforms in mind and the expectations of half the country that voted for him in the June 19 ballot.
For this, he put together a cabinet of various tendencies, with women in charge of various portfolios.
Among the first projects that he will present to Congress, where he has majorities, is the tax reform to raise taxes on the richest, fine-tune collection and tax sugary drinks, in search of resources for social plans.
"The taxes will not be confiscatory, they will simply be fair, in a country that must recognize the enormous social inequality in which we live as an aberration"said the new president.
– Resources for the Amazon –
On the international front, Petro has already announced that it will reactivate diplomatic and commercial relations with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, broken since 2019, although he did not mention this matter in his speech.
However, he did emphasize in his environmentalist proclamation against the climate crisis proposing to create an international fund to protect the Colombian Amazon, plagued by deforestation.
"Where is the global fund to save the Amazon rainforest? (…) We can convert the entire population that today inhabits the Colombian Amazon into a population that cares for the jungle"he expressed.
To this end, he proposed to the international community "exchange external debt for internal expenses to save and recover our forests".
"Reduce foreign debt and we will spend the surplus on saving human life. If the IMF [Fondo Monetario Internacional] help to exchange debt for concrete action against the climate crisis, we will have a prosperous new economy and a new life for humanity"held.
