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Gustavo Petro Sworn in as President of Colombia at Historic Turning Point

Bogotá, Colombia — Colombia's first left-wing president sworn in on Sunday, promising to fight inequality, and a country haunted by inequality. A long war between governments and guerrilla groups that marks a turning point in history.

Senator Gustavo Petro, a former member of his M-19 guerrilla group in Colombia, wins June's presidential election by defeating conservative parties to bring moderate change to a market-friendly economy. but was unable to connect with disgruntled voters. 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 ex-rebel victory was also unusual for Colombia. Voters in the country have historically been reluctant to back left-wing politicians, who have often been accused of being vulnerable to crime or allied with guerrillas.

A 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has turned voters' attention away from 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, has pledged to tackle social and economic inequalities in Colombia by increasing spending on anti-poverty programs and investing more 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 himself with environmentalists during the presidential election by taking steps to slow deforestation and reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels. , promised to turn Colombia into a "global powerhouse for life." Colombia has said it will 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 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 risk the Petro faces is that he will pursue too many reforms at once and get nothing," said Colombia's parliament.

At least 10 heads of state are expected to attend Petro's inauguration in the large colonial square in front of the Colombian parliament. Live music and a big screen stage will also be set up in a park in Bogotá city center, so that tens of thousands of citizens who are not invited to the main event can also attend the festival. This is a big change for Colombia, where presidential inauguration ceremonies have traditionally been solemn events limited to a few hundred VIP guests.

"We want the Colombian people to be the protagonists," said Marisol Rojas, Petro's head of communications, in a statement. "This inauguration will be our first taste of a new form of governance where all forms of life are respected and where everyone adapts."

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