BOGOTÁ, Colombia – For more than two centuries, Colombia was considered a conservative soldier in Latin America. Even when left-wing governments came and went throughout the region, a center-right political establishment remained in control – a continuation that consolidated the country’s role as a key US ally. On Sunday night everything changed. Gustavo Petro, a senator and former rebel, was elected the country’s first left-wing president, mobilizing millions of poor, young, struggling Colombians desperate for someone different. His victory, unthinkable just a generation ago, was the most striking example of how the pandemic has transformed Latin American politics. The pandemic hit the region’s economies harder than anywhere else in the world, expelling 12 million people from the middle class in one year. Across the continent, voters have punished those in power for failing to remove them. from their misery. And the winner was the Latin American left, a diverse movement of leaders that could now take the lead in the hemisphere. Gustavo Petro, a former rebel who vowed to transform an unequal society, was elected Colombia’s first left-wing president on June 19. (Video: Reuters) “Election after election, the right is trying to scare people into believing that the communist monster is coming,” said Alberto Vergara, a political scientist at Peru’s Pacific University. “And election after election, he has lost.” It happened in Peru, where voters elected Marxist teacher Pedro Castillo last year. It happened in Chile, the model of the free market of the region, where the 36-year-old former student activist Gabriel Boric brought the left back to power. And now it has happened in Colombia, a country where the left has long been associated with guerrilla movements for decades of bloody internal strife. Left-wing candidates who have dared to run for office in the past have often been assassinated. This time around, the Conservative candidate-runner-up failed to make it to the second round either, as his message about the dangers of a Petro presidency collapsed. Former rebel Gustavo Petro to become Colombia’s first left-wing president All eyes are now on Brazil, Latin America’s largest country, where former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads opinion polls in October to oust President Zaire Bolsonaro. A victory for Lula would mean All major countries in the region, including Mexico and Argentina, are led by left-wing presidents. From Bogota to Santiago, many voters no longer buy the argument that a turn to the left would mean a government like Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. And this is partly due to the fact that today’s left-wing leaders look and sound very different from those of the past, at least in the case of Peter and Boric. Instead of building an oil-rich economy – the basis of the catastrophic socialist revolution in neighboring Venezuela – they are seeking to build a united front against climate change. They tried to distance themselves from mating in previous years, gained power by promising to protect the rights of women, LGBTQ people and indigenous communities. And they are backed by a young, politically committed electorate that has taken to the streets en masse in recent years to protest inequality. Their success also reflects a social transformation in a predominantly universal region, where feminist movements have pushed Colombia, Argentina and Mexico to decriminalize abortion. Some countries follow Colombia’s example in promoting euthanasia, and Chile recognized same-sex marriage last year. Peter said in an interview with the Washington Post earlier this year that he envisions a progressive alliance with Chile and Brazil. If Lula wins and Peter succeeds, this coalition could be a powerful force in the hemisphere – and it could leave the United States on the sidelines. “This may be just one of the many times that Latin America has taken the lead,” said Bernard Aronson, who served as the top US diplomat for Latin America under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Aronson, who was also a special envoy to the Colombian peace process, described Petro’s victory as “a kind of earthquake in Colombia.” On Sunday night, Peter called for a “dialogue in America without exclusions; with all the diversity that America’s”, a clear reference to the America’s Summit in Los Angeles earlier this month. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador missed the summit after President Biden refused to invite three authoritarian countries – Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. While Boric attended, he also criticized Biden, telling The Post that the United States was missing opportunities to advance its democratic goals for Latin America by refusing to engage with its rivals. As a sign of how widely accepted this view in the region, both Peter and his opponent in the final round of elections in Colombia, construction tycoon Rodolfo Hernández, advocated the normalization of relations with Venezuela, a country that here and for a long time the right has been invoked as a warning. history of the dangers of left-wing governance. Former Colombian rebel leader envisions new Latin American left “If they broadcast there and we absorb here, why don’t we have a dialogue?” said Peter in a crowded arena in Bogota. “Why do we not find another way to understand each other?” With the United States employed by Ukraine, Iran and North Korea, it could see its influence continue to diminish in Latin America, said Cynthia J. Arnson, a distinguished associate and former director of the Wilson Latin American Program. Center of DC. “The United States is less and less part of the debate,” Arnson said. The United States has long viewed relations with the region in the light of competition with Russia and China, said Adam Isaacson, of the Washington bureau for Latin America. “If they have that Cold War 2.0 view of competing with the big powers in the region,” Isacson said, “they just lost control of their cornerstone.” The United States has sent billions of dollars in aid to Colombia over the years, many of them to fight transnational crime and drug trafficking. Some worry that a Petro presidency could push for this long-term partnership. Peter argues that anti-drug policies in recent decades have failed and that eliminating cocaine from airplanes has done nothing to reduce the flow of cocaine into the United States. He vowed to focus on crop substitution. It has also proposed changes to the extradition treaty and the foreign trade agreement between the two countries. But in his acceptance speech, Peter made no comment implying that he would take a hostile approach to the United States, and experts doubt he will. The United States has a history of successful relations with some left-wing presidents in South America, such as Uruguay’s Jose Mujica and Brazil’s Lula, Aronson said. But “very few countries in the world have enjoyed the lasting bipartisanship that Colombia has built with the United States.” If Peter is wise, he added, “he will try to maintain it.” The black feminist activist who could be Colombia’s vice president US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was quick to congratulate Peter on Sunday night, while Brian Nichols, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere, said in a radio interview on Monday that the Biden government had “many points of agreement with the left.” coming to Colombia “, including a joint commitment to tackling climate change. Petro critics fear that his ambitious plans, including his redistributive policies and his proposal to ban new oil exploration, could wreak havoc on Colombia’s economy. Others worry about his willingness to work around democratic institutions to advance his agenda. has proposed a financial emergency to combat hunger. Like many populist presidents before him, Peter’s biggest challenge will be to keep his promises to the poor – especially with a divided legislature. Nearly half of Colombians experience some form of poverty and struggle to find enough food. Among them is 22-year-old student Erika Andrea Nuñez, who can barely afford her childcare tuition. While living with her partner and 2-year-old daughter in a working-class neighborhood in Bogota, she often stays with her parents to reduce the cost of food. She does not consider herself a supporter of Petro, but chose to vote for him because of “what she claims she will do for young people”, especially his proposal for free universal higher education. “I do not know if he will really do it,” he said. “But it’s the only thing that made me give him a chance. “I hope he at least does something different.” Diana Durán contributed to this report.
