Maebh Springbett
Last week Gustavo Petro was sworn in as Colombia’s first left-wing president at the Plaza de Bolivar in the country’s capital, Bogota. The ceremony was attended by around 100,000 guests including the king of Spain Felipe VI and nine Latin American presidents.
Crowds gathered outside the Bolívar square and waved the flag of the M-19, otherwise known as the 9th of April Movement. This former rebel group deployed urban guerrilla tactics during the late twentieth century. As a former member, Petro was jailed during the 1980s for his role as a rebel fighter.
“Petro’s past may well contribute to his notably left-wing stance”
Colombia’s first left-wing president has sparked joy among the public who were allowed to occupy the surrounding streets in celebration after the inauguration ceremony. Petro pledged to address corruption in the military and negotiate a peace agreement with various rebel movements following decades of violent conflict. The 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), stalled during the previous administration under Ivan Duque Marquez’s Democratic Centre Party. Petro is committed to fulfilling the promises of the 2016 agreement to bring much-awaited peace.
“I want a strong, just and united Colombia”
Petro expressed during his inaugural speech “I do not want two countries, just as I do not want two societies. I want a strong, just and united Colombia,” he continued to voice that “the challenges and tests that we have as a nation demand a period of unity and basic consensus.”
The newly appointed Colombian president was able to win over voters who had historically been reluctant to support left-wing politicians as they were often accused of being too lenient with crime or allied with rebel movements.
Petro promised to take action to address climate change. During his campaign, the president made several alliances with environmentalists including Francia Marquez who was inaugurated beside Petro as vice president. As the first Black Colombian vice president, Marquez is also an environmental activist and winner of the 2018 Goldman prize.
Together they plan to make Colombia “a global powerhouse for life” by reducing deforestation and the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. According to Petro, licenses will no longer be granted for oil exploration and fracking projects. . Given the oil industry constitutes at least 50% of Colombia’s exports, many are concerned about what this change could lead to amid high levels of debt, inflation and unemployment in the country.
Petro has vowed to replace the astounding revenue that fossil fuels bring to Colombia by dedicating time and growth to other sectors such as clean energy, agriculture, manufactured goods and tourism.
Image courtesy of Kobby Mendez via Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
Maebh Springbett
While Head of Entertainment for Empoword Journalism, Maebh works in the Careers department at the University of Reading. Their writing focuses on music and has been published by the likes of Music Is To Blame and Dead Good Music. They aspire to work in non-fiction publishing.