Colombia's first leftist president sworn in on Sunday, pledging to fight inequality, plagued by a long war between government and guerrillas A group that marked a turning point in the country's history.
Senator Gustavo Petro, a former member of his M-19 guerrilla group in Colombia, defeated a conservative party in June's presidential election to bring moderate changes to the market-friendly economy. and won, but failed to resolve voter dissatisfaction. By increasing poverty and violence against human rights leaders and environmental groups in rural areas.
Petro is among a group of left-wing politicians and political outsiders who have harmed incumbents in Latin America who have won elections and suffered the economic aftermath since the pandemic began.
The former rebel victory was also exceptional for Colombia. Voters in the country have historically been reluctant to back left-wing politicians. Left-wing politicians were often accused of being criminally vulnerable or allied with the guerrillas.
A 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has turned voters' attention away from the violent conflicts raging in rural areas and put problems such as poverty and corruption in the spotlight. became a left-wing political party in national elections, which became more popular.
Petro, 62, pledged to tackle social and economic inequalities in Colombia by increasing spending on his anti-poverty program . Increased investment in rural areas. He described US-led anti-narcotics policies, such as the forced eradication of the illegal coca crop, as "huge failures". But he has worked "on an equal footing" with Washington to build plans to combat climate change and build infrastructure in rural areas where many farmers say coca leaf is the only viable crop.
Petro also allied itself with environmentalists during the presidential election by slowing deforestation and taking steps to reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels. , promised to turn Colombia into a "global powerhouse for life." However, Colombia said it would stop granting new licenses for oil exploration and ban fracking projects. He plans to finance social spending with a $10 billion annual tax reform aimed at raising taxes on the wealthy and removing corporate tax breaks.
Petro also said it wanted to start peace talks with the remaining rebel groups currently fighting over drug routes, gold mines and other resources abandoned by the FARC after a peace deal with the government. .
"He has a very ambitious agenda," said Jan Bassett, a political scientist at Bogota's Rosario University. "But he will have to prioritize. The danger the Petro faces is to push too many reforms at once and get nothing."
