The new Colombian President Gustavo Petro has taken office. The left-wing politician took his oath of office on Sunday in Plaza Bolívar in the center of the capital Bogotá. “More participation and more democracy is what I propose to Colombian society to put an end to the violence in our country,” said the 62-year-old on Sunday. Several colleagues such as Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, Argentine President Alberto Fernández, Bolivian President Luis Arce and Spain’s King Felipe VI. attended the celebration.
Anger was caused when the outgoing conservative government refused at the last moment to hand over the sword of national hero Simón Bolívar and the sculpture “Dove of Peace” by artist Fernando Botero, which were to be displayed at the presidential inauguration. Immediately after his oath of office, Petro had the sword brought to the ceremony.
“The sword should never be buried again, never held back again,” said Petro. “It should only be sheathed, as said by its owner, the Deliverer, when there is justice in this land. May it belong to the people.” In the 1980s, Petro belonged to the rebel organization M-19, which once stole the sword and finally returned it after being demobilized.
In the June 19 runoff, Petro defeated populist real estate entrepreneur Rodolfo Hernández. Vice-President Francia Márquez is the first black woman to head the state.
Big Challenges
Petro wants to normalize relations with Venezuela and reopen the borders with the neighboring country. He also wants to consistently implement the peace treaty signed six years ago with the guerrilla organization FARC and also to start talks with the country’s other armed groups. “In order for peace to be possible in Colombia, we need dialogue, lots of dialogue, to understand each other, to look for common ways to bring about change,” he said in his inaugural speech.
In the fight against drug crime, Petro also wants to take other paths. So far, Colombia has been America’s closest ally in South America in the so-called war on drugs, receiving millions of dollars for the police and military. “The war on drugs has gotten states to commit crimes,” he said. “Shall we wait until another million Latin Americans are murdered and 200,000 people die from drug overdoses in the United States every year? Or do we trade failure for success so that Colombia and Latin America can live in peace?”
In addition, the ex-guerrilla announced that he would slow down the exploitation of raw material deposits. This could also have consequences for Germany, which wants to import more coal from Colombia in the future because of the sanctions against Russia because of the war of aggression against Ukraine.
The challenges for the new head of state are great: Colombia is struggling with the economic consequences of the corona pandemic, great social injustice and widespread violence. The previous conservative government of President Iván Duque only half-heartedly implemented the peace agreement with the FARC. Many ex-combatants therefore went underground again and joined criminal gangs.