Gustavo Petro takes over in Colombia with the economy and social inclusion as a priority

The first left-wing president in Colombia’s recent history, Gustavo Petro, did so two urgent priorities in its management: the economy and social inclusion. And Petro aims to achieve the “transformations”, as they say, without abrupt measures, but in a transitory format, facing the challenge of limited financial resources, double-digit inflation (10.21% per year), which is a record in 22 years and poverty levels that this year are the fastest growing in Latin America, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The first international meeting scheduled on Petro’s agenda, Monday, one day after its inauguration this Sunday, in Plaza de Bolívar, in Bogotá, will be with Gabriel Boric, from Chile. Petro tries to strengthen his Latin American alliance and hopes that former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will return to the presidency of Brazil.

For him Lula was a “political prisoner” and aspires to be president of Brazil again. The chancellor of the future multifaceted government of Petro, Álvaro Leyva, is a politician with a long career, a very active conservative in the peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and who was already in Venezuela, so much so that diplomatic missions of the two countries. Petro’s cabinet, known in its entirety only this Saturday, has figures already known to Colombians in key positions.

By appointing the Social Democratic economist José Antonio Ocampo as his finance minister, Petro sent a decisive signal to investors and the financial markets. “It seems that the economy is more important than defense, because Petro is not afraid to impose a defense minister who could generate tensions in the armed forces, but he was very careful to appoint a finance minister who would reassure the markets and investors” . , said analyst Víctor M. Mijares, of the Universidad de Los Andes, in Bogotá.

Ocampo was minister in the governments of César Gaviria and Ernesto Samper, director of ECLAC, professor in North American universities and has a fluid dialogue with politicians from Latin America and the United States, as well as with international organizations.

Ocampo and Vice President France Márquez, for example, have different life stories and speeches, but Petro seems to want to seek unity (or near unity) in this country where political divisions and violence have always been a challenge.

In a scenario of high expectations, the appointment of criminal Iván Velásquez Gómez to the Ministry of Defense has been interpreted as a sign of respect for human rights in the portfolio that is managed by the military – and many do not support the new president.

By appointing philosopher and environmentalist Irene Vélez for the Mines and Energy portfolio, Petro ratified his decision to try to change Colombia’s energy profile, with limits on new oil exploration, an issue that appeals to environmentalists and worries investors in the sector and orthodox economists who look at the “fundamental” income generated for the country by oil exports.

But, like a tightrope walker with increasingly evident social democratic and center-left traits, Petro tries to send signals to the various sectors of Colombia. He took pictures with military policemen and even wore a national force cap four days before his inauguration this Sunday.

On Saturday, when he announced the names of ministers who have disappeared from his cabinet, Petro has incorporated Alfonso Prada, from the political entourage of former President Juan Manuel Santos, as his interior minister and who will be responsible for relations between the Presidency and Congress. . Another sign of ‘restraint’, analysts say, of Petro in a new phase of his political profile.

“When he was mayor of Bogotá, he did not have the patience and the will to dialogue with the various sectors. But, from the campaign to the second presidential round, he is ‘very Petro’. He listens a lot, thinks a lot and is more mature than ever in such a diverse country, ”says a Colombian academic who only voted for him in the second round.

Until a few days ago, the diversity of cultures and histories in Colombia led him to continue to visit places in the interior of the country, where, like Santos, he received his spiritual ceremony of “ancestral assumption” together with the indigenous people of the country. Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta. The various indigenous ethnic groups are among the thousands of participants in the celebrations of Petro’s assumption and it is estimated that more than one hundred thousand people will gather in the Plaza de Bolívar, in Bogotá.

Among the crowd will be the thousands of informal workers, unemployed and members of the various social strata of Colombia who are waiting for a change – and their patience is not infinite. There are several stories heard here about the urgent needs of Colombians. “My son is home alone right now and I’m running from here to there,” says Andrea, a hotel employee who has no one to leave the child with on Saturdays.

A former guerilla fighter in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) says he is an admirer of Colombia’s elected president, Gustavo Petro, who takes office this Sunday. “Colombia needs it,” he says, in a conversation here in Bogotá. But his admiration for Petro doesn’t seem to be limitless. “If in a hundred days we Colombians do not perceive the first signs of change, I fear that our hope will not last long”.

A young student says her patience is “infinite” with Petro and believes her first year will be decisive in maintaining her support and leadership of the country. On the streets of Bogota, when one wonders what is expected of Petro, the answers are almost always: that poverty is decreasing and that employment is improving. They are also portrayed in the murals of the various districts of the country’s capital, where some say ‘SOS’ (help) and others ‘Petro, hope’.

Bogotá, special for Clarin