Colombian President Gustavo Petro wearing the presidential band during his inauguration speech. Bogota, August 7, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Luisa Gonzalez.
This Sunday August 8, from Bolívar Square in Bogotá, Gustavo Petro was sworn in as the new president of Colombia for the period of 2022-2026.
“I swear to God and I promise to the people to faithfully comply with the constitution and laws of Colombia,” said the now-president during his inauguration ceremony.
As his first order after assuming the Presidency, Petro requested for the sword of the liberator Simón Bolívar to be brought in, merely hours after the outgoing president Iván Duque had refused to allow it to be included in the act.
El momento histórico de este #7Ago. La espada de Bolívar vuelve para la toma de posesión de Gustavo Petro. pic.twitter.com/GPOBEfD6qT
— REDRADIOVE (@RedRadioVe) August 7, 2022
Later in the ceremony, Francia Márquez was also sworn in as the new vice president of Colombia, thus becoming the first Afro-Colombian woman to assume this position.
Some international representatives attended the ceremony, such as Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, wife of President Andrés Manuel López, King Felipe VI of Spain, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce and the president of Argentina Alberto Fernández, among others.
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#ÚLTIMAHORA | Juramentacion de Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) como nuevo Presidente de Colombia. pic.twitter.com/weZeyqQKvT
— REDRADIOVE (@RedRadioVe) August 7, 2022
“Today our second chance begins”
During his first speech as president, Gustavo Petro addressed the Colombian people, stressing that their second chance begins today.
Likewise, he called on the armed groups to lay down their weapons, and in turn accept legal benefits in exchange for peace.
“We also call on all the armed groups to lay down their weapons in the nebulae of the past. To accept legal benefits in exchange for peace, in exchange for the definitive non-repetition of violence, to work as owners of a prosperous yet legal economy that ends the backwardness of the regions,” he sentenced.
Petro also ratified his willingness to lead a government of peace, in order to end six decades of violence and armed conflict.
"La igualdad es posible si somos capaces de crear riqueza para todos. Por eso proponemos una reforma tributaria que genere justicia". Gustavo Petro en su toma de posesión. pic.twitter.com/9AlloKRVnT
— REDRADIOVE (@RedRadioVe) August 7, 2022
“We will comply with the Peace Agreement, we will strictly follow the recommendations of the Truth Commission’s report (…) and we will work tirelessly to bring peace and tranquility to every corner of Colombia,” he said.
The new president also spoke about the war on drugs, to which he said that it is time for a new international convention which accepts that this so-called war has failed.
He repudiated that the war on drugs has left a million Latin Americans murdered in the past 40 years, and that it leaves 70,000 North Americans dead from overdoses every year.
“Of course, peace is possible if, for example, the policy against drugs is changed, and seen as a war for a policy of strong prevention of consumption in developed societies,” he said in reference to the gigantic demand of drugs coming mainly from the United States and Europe.
Venezuela celebrates
Meanwhile, in front of the Consulate General of Colombia in Caracas, a group of Colombians were invited this Sunday to watch the inauguration ceremony of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez. The invitation was scheduled for 11 in the morning next to the headquarters of the Consulate General of Colombia, located in Chacaíto, Caracas.
Ciudadanos colombianos y venezolanos esperan la juramentación de @petrogustavo participando en un acto cultural en las afueras del Consulado de Colombia en Caracas, cerrado desde 2019, a raíz de la ruptura de relaciones bilaterales pic.twitter.com/Ge3nxqT4wS
— Manuel Cobela (@Manuel_Cobela79) August 7, 2022
On July 28, the appointed minister for foreign affairs of Colombia, Álvaro Leyva, met with his Venezuelan counterpart Carlos Faria and together they read a declaration of normalization of full diplomatic and consular relations between the two countries as promised by Gustavo Petro.
The event in Caracas was not exempted from incidents, as it was denounced that some security personal from the Colombian consulate tried to sabotage the activity without success.
En el consulado de Colombia en Caracas, el Movimiento de “Colombianos por la libertad de Alex Saab” hace presencia para esperar el discurso de @petrogustavo pic.twitter.com/zNg4t7NJeJ
— pedro karvajalino (@PedroKonductaz) August 7, 2022
The organization of “Colombians for the Freedom of Alex Saab” was also present in the gathering in front of the Colombian consulate as a reminder of the international movement built around the world for the freedom of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who was unlawfully detained by Washington. This was reported by Venezuelan journalist Pedro Carvajalino on his Twitter account.
Simultaneously, but now at the Simón Bolívar International Bridge connecting Táchira state in Venezuela to Colombia, both Venezuelans and Colombians gathered to participate in a concert to mark the inauguration of Gustavo Petro, on the Venezuelan side of the border.
#NoticiaW | En el Puente Internacional Simón Bolívar colombianos y venezolanos se unen para un concierto binacional, en medio de la posesión de Gustavo Petro. pic.twitter.com/TxpouAvW8e
— W Radio Colombia (@WRadioColombia) August 7, 2022
Said event, according to the organizers, had the objective of providing a voice of support for the initiatives undertaken by the Petro government to rebuild relations with the Venezuelan people, which had been previously sabotaged by the Iván Duque administration.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DD
