More than 24 hours after former guerrilla Gustavo Petro became the first leftist president in Colombian history, last Sunday (19), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a note on behalf of the Brazilian government congratulating him on the election.
“By wishing the president-elect success in carrying out his duties, the Brazilian government reaffirms its commitment to the continuity and deepening of bilateral relations with Colombia, with a view to the well-being, prosperity, democracy and freedom of our peoples,” he said. the Itamaraty this Tuesday (21).
President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) has yet to officially comment on the new Colombian leader. But on Monday (20), in a broadcast list he maintains on WhatsApp, he questioned whether Brazil would be the next country to elect a left-wing leader.
As shown by the column Mônica Bergamo, from SheetBolsonaro forwarded to this group an image of a BBC News Brazil article entitled “Ex-guerrilla wins election in Colombia and will be the country’s first left-wing president”.
Below the photo, he wrote: “Cuba… Venezuela… Argentina… Chile… Colombia… Brazil???”, in reference to the fact that the left, with Lula, has a chance to return to power. in the country.
Also on Monday, Bolsonaro commented with supporters on the kidnapping of businessman Abílio Diniz by left-wing groups in 1989. When a person mentioned Colombia in the conversation, the president commented: “He is a former MIR guerrilla, a left-wing revolutionary movement.” The scene was recorded on video.
The speech, however, did not make it clear whether he was referring to Petro — who is actually a former guerrilla of the M-19 movement — or to the participation of members of the MIR — who is from Chile — in Diniz’s kidnapping.
THE Sheet questioned the Planalto Palace to find out whether or not Bolsonaro was referring to the new president of Colombia, but there was no response until the publication of this report.
The vice president of Brazil, Hamilton Mourão, stated that the relationship between the two nations is independent of the government at the moment. “The relationship is state to state, regardless of government,” he said.
“[Desejo] Lucky for Gustavo Petro, because managing a country in the situation the world is facing is not simple. We have common interests with the Colombians, especially on the issue of the Amazon.”
Petro was elected president this Sunday (19), with 50.44% of the votes, in a country that had never seen a president who was not right-wing in its history.
According to Bolsonaro’s ministers and interlocutors, the president also drew attention to the high abstention rate in the Colombian election. Voting is not mandatory in the country, and about 45% of citizens eligible to vote did not turn up at the polls. Although high, the number represents the lowest abstention rate in two decades in Colombia.
Bolsonaro, however, would be concerned that abstention in Brazil could also be high, even with mandatory voting.
Petro’s victory also extends Bolsonaro’s political isolation on the continent. If only the closest neighbors are considered, eight of the 12 countries in South America are now governed by avowedly left-wing leaders, a scenario quite different from the one that the Brazilian president found when he took over the Planalto, in 2019.
In addition, the election of the former guerrilla had another symbolism: it was recognized by his main opponent, Rodolfo Hernández, less than an hour after the results were announced.
