In Colombia, less than six weeks before the first round of the presidential election, the left-wing candidate is trying to reassure centrist voters. The favorite in the polls has pledged not to carry out any nationalization if he is elected president on May 29 or during a ballot in mid-June.
Gustavo Petro wanted to give a solemn framework to his statement. It is therefore in a notary’s office in Bogota and under oath that the left-wing candidate for the presidency signed a document. In this text, the former guerrilla and his candidate for the vice-presidency, the Afro-Colombian ecologist Francia Marquez, promise respect for the private property of every Colombian.
Gustavo Petro proposes to raise taxes on the wealthy and ” democratize » access to land. A program, of course, of transformation of Colombian society, but who does not rely on or include any type of expropriation “, assures the candidate.
A symbolic commitment
The current senator thus hopes to pull the rug out from under the feet of his right-wing opponent. Federico Gutierrez keeps calling the poll favorite ” authoritarian populist and raises the threat of nationalizations by comparing him to former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Constitutionalists have already warned: Gustavo Petro’s written and sworn commitment is only symbolic. The Colombian Constitution indeed authorizes expropriations if they are compensated and in the interest of the community.