BOGOTA, Colombia – Gustavo Petro, a former rebel who rallied young and poor voters with promises to transform an unequal society, was elected Colombia’s first left-wing president on Sunday in a resounding rejection of the ruling party. for two centuries. Peter received more than 50 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results, leading to a wave of support from Colombians desperate for change in a country struggling with high poverty. The 62-year-old senator defeated underdog candidate Rodolfo Hernández, a wealthy businessman who garnered about 47% of the vote in a race that was initially expected to be tough. Colombia, the third largest nation in Latin America, is now the last country to move to the left in an area devastated by the economic outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Petro’s triumph in one of the continent’s most conservatively historic countries is a striking example of how widespread discontent has shaken the status quo. His victory is remarkable not only because of his political ideology but also because of his life story: A former clandestine rebel who served a prison sentence in the 1980s for joining a rebel group will now become president of a country still plagued by armed criminal violence. His presidency could have profound implications for Colombia’s economic model, the role of government and its relationship with other countries in the hemisphere – including the United States, its most important ally. Speaking from a packed arena in the nation’s capital, he stood next to the woman who will become Colombia’s first black vice president, Francia Márquez, an environmental activist who activated an Afro-Colombian community that had long been forgotten by the rulers. Peter called for a “great national dialogue” for the unification of the country and the building of peace. “Peace means a Colombian society with opportunities. “Peace means that someone like me can become president or someone like France can become vice president,” he said. “Peace means we must stop killing each other.” The crowd, waving Colombian flags and bursting into applause, shouted together: “No more war!” The black feminist activist who could be Colombia’s vice president Hernández quickly accepted the results on Twitter. “I hope this decision is beneficial for everyone,” he told a video camera on social media. “I hope that Gustavo Petro will know how to lead the country, that he will be faithful to his anti-corruption debate and that he will not disappoint those who elected him.” Petro’s comfortable lead shattered fears – at least for now – that a slim race could lead any candidate to challenge the election results and spark a wave of civil unrest, a year after mass protests swept the country. Petro’s campaign has encouraged pandemic-fighting communities in a country where half the population is malnourished and 40 percent live in poverty. His campaign affected the despair and anger of those who took to the streets last year in mass nationwide demonstrations. And his victory is a resounding rebuke to the deeply unpopular administration of incumbent Iván Duque, who many saw as doing little to improve the economic situation in one of the region’s most unequal countries. However, some fear that Petro’s policies, including his proposal to ban new oil exploration, could wreak havoc on Colombia’s economy. Others say a Petro presidency could test the country’s long-standing but fragile democracy. He has said he will declare a state of emergency to fight hunger if elected, a proposal that has been criticized by some constitutional law experts. Analysts are concerned about his willingness to work around Congress and other democratic institutions to advance his agenda. Others predict he will not be able to keep his promises with a divided legislature. As mayor of Bogota, Peter oversaw a series of staff departures and was criticized for refusing to listen to his advisers. “The question is whether the institutions will also be able to mitigate it and hold it accountable,” said Sandra Botero, a political scientist at Rosario University in Colombia. Peter proposes the transformation of the country’s economic system by redistributing wealth to the poor. He says he will create free higher education, a universal public health care system and a minimum wage for unmarried mothers. He says it will raise taxes on the 4,000 richest Colombians and boost local agricultural industry. But he sent an honest message to his critics from the arena on Sunday night: “We will develop capitalism in Colombia,” he said. The United States has long regarded Colombia as its most important and stable ally in the region. President Biden has described the country as the “keystone” of democracy in the hemisphere. Some are now worried that a Petro presidency will burden this long-term partnership, especially in the two countries’ efforts to fight the drug trade. Peter argues that anti-drug policies in recent decades have failed and that the elimination of cocaine from airplanes has done nothing to reduce the flow of cocaine into the United States. He vowed to focus on crop substitution. He has also proposed a change in the extradition treaty between the two countries. “The prospects for continuing our normal approach to dealing with transnational crime are almost slim,” said Kevin Whitaker, a former US ambassador to Colombia and now a member of the Atlantic Council. But Michael Shifter, a fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, predicts that a Petro presidency would involve “many political positions” but little real hostility to the United States, such as Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency in Mexico. Shifter says it reflects a “new reality” recorded by the section at Biden’s America Summit earlier this month. “Latin America is on its way and the United States is on its way,” he said. On Sunday night, Peter called for an “inclusive dialogue in America” and called on the United States to work with him on what he described as his diplomacy priority – fighting climate change. “On behalf of the United States, I congratulate the people of Colombia for making their voices heard in a free and fair presidential election,” said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. “We look forward to working with President-elect Petro to further strengthen the US-Colombia relationship and lead our nations to a better future.” Peter told the Washington Post that he envisions a progressive alliance with Chile and Brazil, a new Latin American left built not on the mining industry but rather on the environment. He also said he would normalize relations with neighboring Venezuela, a major change from Duque, one of the most ardent rivals in the region of Socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Former Colombian guerrilla leader envisions new Latin American left The election marks another blow to the political establishment in Latin America, where voters sought to punish incumbent governments for the devastation caused by the pandemic. In Peru, rising poverty helped push Marxist teacher Pedro Castillo to the presidency last year. In Chile, the region’s free market model, voters elected Gabriel Boric, a 36-year-old former student activist, as president this year. And in Brazil, Latin America’s largest country, left-wing former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads the polls to oust President Zaire Bolsonaro in October. Many Colombians who voted in the country’s capital on Sunday said they were desperate for something – anything – different from previous presidents. “We’ve been on the right and the far right for more than 200 years; and things here are bad, bad, bad,” said Henry Perdomo, a 60-year-old industry worker, shortly after voting in favor. Peter in a working-class neighborhood south of Bogota. “We need a change.” But some of his neighbors feared what the change might bring. Blanca Elena Timón Diaz, 52, who used to clean houses, was worried that Petro would jeopardize her economies and “turn the country into Venezuela”. Her vote for Hernandez was, more than anything else, a vote against the left. Peter was a member of the April 19 Movement, or M-19, a city political guerrilla that was later demobilized, reached a peace agreement with the government, and became a political party. Fanny Betancourt, 81, still vividly remembers watching the M-19 guerrillas invade Bogota’s Palace of Justice in 1985. Her father was killed in the attack. Peter denies involvement in the siege. he was a prisoner then. He said he could not stand the thought of a former M-19 guerrilla as president. For generations, many Colombians have linked the left to armed uprisings in the long history of conflict. Petro’s victory, less than six years after the country signed landmark peace deals with its largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), shows how far the country has come, said the lawyer and political analyst. Hector Riveros. The vote came after a more tense, violent and uncertain election cycle than any other in Colombia’s recent history. For the first time, Colombians chose between two populists, opposition candidates. Peter’s opponent, Hernandez, the former mayor of Bucaramanga, who had never held or run for national office in the past, ran a unique message to eradicate corruption. But the construction mogul’s unfiltered message and lack of proposals alienated voters such as Luz Marina Ríos, a 48-year-old in the capital. She said she was desperate for a president who would find new …
