Gustavo Petro, elected president of Colombia from the Pacto Histórico coalition, will face political, economic and social challenges from taking office on 7 August. He was elected this Sunday (19) with 50.44% of the votes in the second round of the presidential elections.

It was the first time the left and centre-left had come together so that the third-time presidential candidate, Petro, arrived at the presidential palace.

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According to analysts, the unprecedented defeat of the right in the country marks a political shift in Colombia that began with the 2019 and 2020 protests.

The other candidate, construction entrepreneur Rodolfo Hernández, of the Governors of the Anti-Corruption League, received 47.3% of the vote.

In his victory speech, the elected president endorsed the proposal to reach a national agreement with the country’s different political lines, including the far right.

Petro invited Hernández’s voters to visit him in his presidency, called the ‘Casa de Nariño’ (read Casa de Narinho).

“Making peace in Colombia means that Hernández’s more than ten million voters are welcome. We will not work to destroy the opposition. Everyone is ‘welcome’ to dialogue in the presidential palace,” Petro said.

His voters reacted by shouting “No to war”.

He understands that the reforms necessary for the country to become more egalitarian and include indigenous peoples and people of African descent (like vice president Francia Márquez) can only be accomplished “without dialogue, love and hate and vengeance”. ) and who is and is the victim of violence.

José Antonio Ocampo, Colombian professor of public and international politics at Columbia University in the United States, believes this “national agreement” is decisive.

“We hope and should support the national agreement (proposed by Petro). The agreement is crucial to overcoming the deep social and regional divisions of recent years and this Colombian electoral process.”

Agrarian reform and no oil

Petro plans to undertake land reform, slow oil and coal production, and expand clean energy.

The rejection of the business (and oil) sector, whose ideas have the backing of supporters, but also associates their initiatives with the “left handbook of the seventies.”

As Jorge Restrepo, a professor of economics at the University of Javeriana in Bogotá, observes, Colombia is not an oil country like its neighbor Venezuela, but is “dependent” on the financial resources generated by fossil production, the analyst says. fuel..

This promises to be one of the biggest debates in Colombia during the Petro-Francia era and is already closely watched by investors and financial markets.

The president also told them that the changes will be made through dialogue and will not “nationalize companies” and will “respect the Constitution”.

However, Petro said that he is not a leftist, that his politics is “the politics of life”. Some define him as centre-left or “21st century social democrat”. He says he is a capitalist, but is aware of the importance of caring for the environment and the effects of climate.

‘Aurelia’

For critics and dissidents, the 62-year-old Petro’s challenge will be to show that when he was young in the 1980s, his guerrilla life was long gone.

Two days before the second round of the presidential election, the cover of the traditional Semana magazine from Bogotá, “Former guerrilla or engineer?”, referring to the voters’ choice between Petro and civil engineer Hernández.

“I want to remind you that I am an economist,” said the president-elect, reacting to the cover.

A guerrilla from the M-19 group says he was arrested and tortured when he was just twenty years old. That’s when he used the nickname “Aurelian” after one of the characters in the book. One Hundred Years of SolitudeBy Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

In 2016, Petro supported the peace deal that led to most of the guerrillas surrendering their weapons after 50 years of conflict.

But despite his political trajectory, being mayor and senator of Bogota, and economics degrees with expertise in environmental and business administration, his opponents and critics continue to highlight his guerrilla period.

One of the biggest challenges for the new president will be the negotiation he will have to conduct in the National Convention to bring about the changes he has planned. Analysts say their voters have high expectations. Another will deal with crime and police brutality. In her victory speech, a mother appeared on the podium carrying a photo of a dead teenage son next to her.

‘Invisible’

Colombia, like Brazil, was a port where enslaved people were heavily disembarked. Petro said special attention would be given to the management of the black population (about 10% of the country), the indigenous (diverse communities) and the poorest.

Francia Márquez, the vice-president-elect, the first African to take office, highlighted the new government’s slogan of accession, saying that after 214 years Colombia will have a government focused on the “invisible”.

The current unemployment rate of the country is 12%. The economic and social conjuncture includes Colombians’ concerns about rising inflation. Until April last year, annual inflation was 1.8%. In April this year, the index was almost 10%.

Rising prices after the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are among the main concerns of Latin Americans.

But as with Chile, Ecuador and other countries in the region, even before the pandemic, Colombia experienced waves of protests that highlighted the dissatisfaction of Colombians.

The resulting dissatisfaction was reflected in the polls as the traditional right and centre-right parties, which have ruled the country for decades, were excluded from the second round of the election.

Managing this economic legacy left by current right-wing president Iván Duque will be another major challenge for Petro.

Amazon

Internationally, Petro is expected to maintain diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela – other candidates have promised likewise. Colombia is one of the main destination countries for Venezuelans and both countries have historically had a strong trade flow.

In terms of foreign relations, Petro has already said that he will seek a different relationship with the United States, with which Colombia has a free trade agreement and has shared its anti-drug policy for years.

Petro announced that he plans to put the environmental issue on the agenda of relations with the USA.

For him the Amazon (also Colombian) is a regional issue, as is the need for common policies against climate change.

Colombia’s elected president feels that Colombians should emphasize that they are Latin American and build relationships with their neighbors.

But one analyst pointed out that the more favored classes in Colombia have always been more tied to the United States, a relationship that should not be changed. Another challenge for Petro, Francia and her team.

‘This text was originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-61842345’

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