Gustavo Petro’s recent inauguration as president of Colombia was different from that of his predecessors and was full of symbols that represent the change that implies the rise of the first leftist president in the country.
He is a president who achieved government without the support of traditional political classes. The speech was, in large part, addressed to the bases that voted for him and that, during the ceremony, filled Plaza de Bolivar and many others in the country.
During the inauguration, the reference to the excluded majorities in one of the most unequal countries in Latin America was evident.
In addition to the traditional greetings to high officials, heads of state and diplomatic representatives, Petro mentioned the names of citizens he met during the campaign, saluting in particular a fisherman, a youth leader, a street vendor, a coffee farmer and a street sweeper.
Vice President Francia Márquez, the first black woman to hold that position, also made symbolic gestures in the oath of office as she took office, not only before God and the Colombian people, as is tradition, but also before her ancestors and Colombians who were historically excluded.
The public who attended the inauguration expressed the diversity of the country’s population and what was denied and excluded by the ruling elites and violated by armed groups, but also by the state.
The racist and colonial vision against ethnic peoples was what exacerbated the armed conflict, as pointed out by the Report of the Truth Commission, whose recommendations Petro pledged to comply with last June, when it was made public.
Petro’s first order as president, during the ceremony, was to display the sword of Simón Bolívar, which the outgoing president, Iván Duque, had refused, despite the incoming president’s request.
The sword had been stolen in 1974 by the urban guerrilla of the M-19, to which Petro belonged, and was only returned in 1991, after the peace process during Virgilio Barco’s government (1986-1990).
Also, alluding to the Colombian conflict and the exclusion and political violence against the left in Colombia, congresswoman María José Pizarro, daughter of Carlos Pizarro, top commander of the M-19, assassinated in 1990 when he was a presidential candidate after the peace process, was called to put on the presidential sash.
After four years in which the Duque government not only failed to make consistent progress in implementing the Peace Agreement signed in 2016, but also abandoned negotiations with armed groups and questioned the instances created by this agreement, Petro and his team pushed the concept forward. of Total Peace.
It is therefore expected that peace will once again be a priority on the government agenda.
The current government has announced its interest in dialoguing with the different armed groups, specifically with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas and the Gulf Clan. This narco-paramilitary group, with extensive territorial control, announced a unilateral ceasefire after the new government took office.
The appointment as chancellor of Álvaro Leyva, who has been a mediator in different peace processes since the 1980s, shows the new government’s interest in advancing this issue.
Furthermore, with respect to international relations, two major changes are expected.
On the one hand, the rethinking of relations with the United States, which historically was due to the anti-drug policy, which Petro has criticized for the death of thousands of Latin Americans; but also of Americans who die of an overdose.
On the other hand, a closer relationship with Latin American countries is expected, something that Petro mentioned in different ways in his speech, alluding to the need for greater integration, as well as joint protection of the Amazon.
The inauguration ceremony and the first days of the government reaffirm the promise of change around the pursuit of social justice, peace and care for the environment.
However, leaving behind the high rates of inflation and unemployment that set a record during the Duque administration will not be easy.
Faced with these expectations of various political and social sectors in the country, but also in Latin America, this government has a great challenge to distance itself from its predecessors.
And, above all, not to disappoint the millions of Colombians who hope, as a poster above one of the lamps in Plaza de Bolivar said, “don’t fail us”.
