[Politics] Petro, the man who led the left to the Presidency

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No one can deny that he was the protagonist of the political year, as much for his historic election and his achievements in Congress as for the intense and strong polemics that he has generated.

January started with the echo of an interview with EL TIEMPO: "The first decision I am going to make is to stop the new oil exploration contracts in Colombia", he responded to what he would do on August 7 if he won the elections presidential. “There will be a smooth, but safe and serious transition. It will be my clear message to all the actors in society and the economy: we are starting another type of economy,” he added.

(In context: Gustavo Petro: 'This victory is for God and for the people and his history')

At that time, he was a candidate for the inter-party consultation of the Historical Pact, a coalition of minority parties and left-wing social movements. On March 13, coinciding with the congressional elections, Petro prevailed with 80 percent of the votes in that referendum and doubled the number of votes that was emerging as his main rival at the time: Federico Gutiérrez, winner of the referendum in Team for Colombia (Centre-right coalition).

But that day, in addition, Petro gave the left the greatest victory that this political strip has experienced in elections for Congress. With billboards in which only his face appeared, the Historical Pact achieved 20 seats in the Senate and 27 representatives in the Chamber.

Winner in two rounds
In the presidential elections on May 29, he obtained eight and a half million votes, 40 percent of the vote. On the way he left behind Federico Gutiérrez and Sergio Fajardo. In the second round, June 19, he won with more than eleven million votes, 50.44 percent of the vote, compared to 47.31 percent for his rival Rodolfo Hernández. Never before in the history of Colombia has a presidential candidate obtained so many votes. “But it also became clear that 10.5 million went to the polls to vote against him,” says analyst Andrés Segura.

The country had just been the scene of a social explosion, during the government of Iván Duque, which was marked by the prominence of a new phenomenon: the front line. In his victory speech, Petro said: “How many people are imprisoned, how many young people find themselves chained, handcuffed, treated as bandits just because they had hope and love. I ask the attorney general to release our youth.”

(You may be interested in: Gustavo Petro: 'The State must guarantee the right to water in La Guajira')

"If the president-elect wants to seek the release of young people who committed crimes, he must ask Congress to change the law and not the attorney general," Francisco Barbosa replied. From various sectors it was interpreted that Petro was coming to collide head-on with the institutionality.

However, his first date was with his longtime antagonist, Uribe Vélez. "I believe that you do not have to pass bills," said the former president. "The era of dialogue began," replied the president-elect. It was a meeting that for many put an end to the polarization in which the country was immersed.

the ground pole
With the appointment of the experienced José Antonio Ocampo in the Treasury portfolio, he tried to send a message of calm to the markets. However, he also put together a cabinet with figures who have generated controversy for their excessive activism on environmental issues and against the use of fossil fuels. An issue that caused enormous concern inside and outside the country, as this is the main source of foreign currency income for the country's coffers.

(We suggest you read: Petro's position against Pedro Castillo sparked a political confrontation)

In his possession, on August 7, before a crowd and with his hand raised by his vice president, Francia Márquez, who was waiting to be sworn in, Petro gave his first order as head of state: "I request the Military House bring the sword of Bolívar”. It was the sign of a government for which speeches and symbols are a priority. Both inside and outside the country. In his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, he said: "The war on drugs has failed."

“The climate crisis”, he noted at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP27, in the city of Sharm el Sheikh, (Egypt), “is only overcome if we stop consuming hydrocarbons”.

These two obsessions —achieving global consensus on a new anti-drug approach and accelerating an energy transition— have not yet shown tangible results, as have other objectives announced in the campaign: reestablishing bilateral relations with the Venezuela of Nicolás Maduro, resuming peace negotiations with the ELN; move forward with his legislative agenda and embark on the search for 'total peace'.

https://www.eltiempo.com/politica/gobierno/gustavo-petro-es-el-personaje-del-2022-para-el-tiempo-724866