– The story we are writing today is a new story for Colombia, for Latin America and for the world, said a happy Gustovo Petro after the election victory.
In the end, it was uncertain whether the 62-year-old politician, who had previously been the mayor of the capital Bogotá, would succeed in taking home the win. Petro was challenged by the 77-year-old right-wing populist Rodolfo Hernández, who received over 47 percent of the vote and has admitted defeat.
– I hope that Gustavo Petro knows how to govern the country and is faithful to his discourse against corruption, and Rodolfo Hernández.
Gustavo Petro has promised to do Colombia, which has one of the highest income disparities in the world, to a fairer country. He intends to expand the country’s social programs and introduce citizens’ salaries. He also intends to invest in general health care and increase the number of places to universities. The investments will be financed through tax increases for the country’s richest.
Gustavo Petro does not just become historic by becoming Colombia’s first leftist to rule the country. His vice president, 40-year-old environmental activist Francia Márquez, will also be historic as she becomes the country’s first black vice president.
Their most controversial proposal is that they want the country to stop looking for more oil. The elected president and his deputy would rather invest in renewable energy sources. Since 40 percent of Colombia’s export earnings come from oil, conservative experts have called their proposals economic suicide.
– Today it was all women who won. We are facing the greatest chance for a change in our time, tweeted Francia Márquez after the election victory.
Congratulations flow in to her and Gustavo Petro from the rest of Latin America.
– This victory is historic. The conservatives in Colombia have always been persistent and tough, tweeted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Recently, Peru, Chile and Honduras elected left-wing politicians for presidents, indicating that Latin America may face a new left-wing wave. In October, there are elections in Brazil where the left-wing candidate Lula da Silva leads the polls. But it will not be easy for Gustavo Petro to govern Latin America’s third largest country.
Inflation is 10 percent a year, 20 percent of the country’s young people are unemployed and 40 percent of the population is poor. But Gustavo Petro, who was a member of the M-19 urban guerrilla group in the 1980s, is hopeful.
– We will not betray this electorate, he said during his victory party.
Colombia is the country in Latin America with the strongest ties to the United States. For some years now, Colombia has entered into a partnership with the military alliance NATO and the United States has a military presence in the country. What will happen to the ties to the United States is uncertain. Gustavo Petro has previously criticized the US so-called war on drugs and said that it does not help to spray coca crops. What is needed is to develop the countryside.
Facts. Gustavo Petro
It was the third time for left-wing politician Gustavo Petro. He ran in the 2010 presidential election, but did not reach the second round. In 2018, he came to the polls with was defeated by a large margin by the right-wing politician Ivan Duque, who in July leaves his time in power.
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