Colombia: Gustavo Petro sworn in as first leftist president

Gustavo Petro, a former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, was inaugurated the country’s first leftist president on Sunday at a ceremony in the capital, Bogota.

Some 100,000 people, including Spanish King Felipe VI and at least nine Latin American presidents, looked on as he was sworn in as head of state and government by Senate chief Roy Barreras.

‘New form of governing’

Petro’s press chief, Marisol Rojas, said his appointment would usher in a more inclusive form of governance in the country.

“We want the Colombian people to be the protagonists,” Petro’s aides said in a statement. “This inauguration will be the first taste of a new form of governing, where all forms of life are respected, and where everyone fits in.”

Petro, 62, a former senator and mayor of Bogota, was narrowly elected at June presidential elections as one of a growing group of leftist politicians and political outsiders who have been winning elections in Latin America since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The global calamity mostly exacerbated social inequalities in the region.

Voters in Colombia have previously tended to view left-wing candidates as soft on crime or allied with guerrillas who have conducted a decadeslong rebellion in the country.

The new vice president, Francia Marquez, an environmental activist and former housekeeper, also represents a change for the country as the first Afro-Colombian woman to hold her post.

What has Petro promised?

Petro has said his first aim will be to introduce measures to combat hunger in Colombia, where nearly half of the 50 million inhabitants contend with poverty. 

The new finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, is to propose a $5.6 billion (€5.5 billion) tax reform to Congress on Monday that would see high earners taxed more to fund social programs.

As president, Petro said he plans to increase investment in rural areas, including building up infrastructure that would allow farmers to turn away from growing coca leaves, which fuel the country’s rampant drug trade.

 Petro, who has put together a coalition of leftist and centrist parties to support his agenda, has also pledged free university education, changes to the health care system and a pension reform.

On the environmental front, he has vowed to ban fracking and halt oil development, even though the oil industry makes up almost 50% of the nation’s legal exports.

Petro has also promised to restart failed peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels and apply a 2016 peace deal to ex-members of the FARC guerrillas who reject it.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  From ragged rebellion to military might

  In the mid-20th century, Colombia saw a raging battle between different political camps. Left-wing rebel groups founded independent republics in remote areas, which were gradually taken over by government forces. Two of the leaders of the “Republica de Marquetalia” escaped, however. In 1966, Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas (left) founded the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  A life dedicated to armed struggle

  In the inaccessible Amazon region, farmers who knew the land well were tactically superior to the more cumbersome Colombian army. The FARC picked up strategies from other guerrilla groups in Latin America and began recruiting students and slum dwellers from the cities. That allegedly included more than 18,000 minors. Women, too, joined in. However, they were strictly forbidden to have children.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  Mercenaries, drug traffickers, racketeers

  To fund themselves, the guerrillas entered the drug trade. They moonlighted as mercenaries for the cocaine cartels and later participated in cultivation. Though the Colombian army, with the help of the US, destroyed plantations and drug labs (photo), the rebels raked in plenty of cash. At times, the rebels controlled an area as large as Switzerland. They also levied a “revolutionary tax” there.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  Kidnappings as a lucrative business model

  The FARC is estimated to have earned hundreds of millions of US dollars each year. Part of the reason was another flourishing business model – the rebel group is believed to have been behind nearly 10,000 kidnappings from 1970 to 2010. The most prominent victim was presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in 2002. It took six years for the Colombian army to free Betancourt and 14 other hostages.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  The struggle for peace

  As early as the 1980s, the FARC negotiated an initial, fragile cease-fire with the Colombian government. Some members tried to help to shape policies in political parties. In the 1990s, they presented a 10-point political program. In 2001, FARC leader Manuel Marulanda (right) met with President Andres Pastrana (left) for renewed peace talks. But success proved elusive.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  Continuing terror campaign

  The FARC and the Colombian government were unable to reach a deal in part because the rebels widened their campaign of terror during the talks. They attacked military posts and police stations with explosive devices and raids. They showed no consideration for civilian victims — as seen here in Medellín in 2003, when a car bomb injured 30 people and killed six, including a small child.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  Left and right-wing terror

  Till today, it remains unclear who was behind the massacre of 119 civilians in this church in May 2002. In addition to the FARC, suspicions have centered on right-wing paramilitary groups. Most of the approximately 250,000 people killed in the ongoing conflict were civilians caught between the fronts or murdered as political opponents, suspected collaborators or family members of opponents.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  A weakened guerrilla group

  Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, elected in 2002, intensified the fight against the rebels. On March 1, 2008, soldiers killed the FARC’s deputy chief, Raul Reyes. Shortly thereafter, Manuel Marulanda died. His successor was also killed in a skirmish in 2011. By the end of Uribe’s presidency in 2008, FARC troop numbers dropped to about 8,000 from 20,000 during the 1990s. Most people deserted.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  The controversial peace deal

  Weakened by its losses, the FARC began peace talks with the new president, Juan Manuel Santos (left). The negotiations took place in Cuba. On September 26, 2016, FARC rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez (center) and Santos signed the peace treaty. But just a week later, a narrow majority of Colombians voted against it in a non-binding referendum.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  Disarming the rebels

  By signing the peace deal, the FARC agreed to disarm. A few hundred rebels refused, while the remaining 7,000 were ready to reintegrate into civilian life. Only those suspected of having committed human rights violations were to be brought before a special court. In early 2021, members of the group’s leadership were also indicted for the first time, including leader Timoleon Jimenez.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  Reconciliation between rebels and victims

  Some former FARC fighters are actively working for reconciliation with the Colombian people and especially their victims. Here, ex-rebel Rodrigo Granda meets with the sister of two kidnapping victims to apologize for the wrongs committed. Former hostages, too, have been engaging in reintegration projects.

• Colombia: 5 years after FARC deal, peace remains elusive

  Goal of lasting peace still elusive

  The FARC has now transitioned into a political party. But many members believe the peace treaty has been violated because the government didn’t implement key elements. Some rebels have returned to armed resistance. That includes the two chief peace treaty negotiators, Ivan Marquez and Jesus Santrich. In mid-2019, they announced in a video that the “second Marquetalia” had begun.

  Author: Jan D. Walter

tj,nm/dj (Reuters, AP)

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