Petro, a Historic Victory

By Atilio Boron – Jun 20, 2022

With just over 98% of the electoral posts counted, the triumph of Gustavo Petro, candidate of the Historic Pact, in the second round of the Colombian presidential elections was confirmed. Petro had 50.51% of the votes against 47.22% for his rival. It is an extraordinary victory, with not only national but also continental projections. First, because it has taken place in a country subjected for decades to the arbitrary rule of one of the most brutal and bloodthirsty right-wingers in Latin America. The twilight of its predominance could be glimpsed in the first round when Uribismo, as the personification of those nefarious political forces, could not even guarantee that one of its several candidates could make it to the runoff. That is why they had to resort to an operetta character like Rodolfo Hernández, on whom they poured all their support and tried to present him as if he were a statesman when in fact he was a buffoon, and they failed in their endeavor. The candidates of the Historic Pact had to fight against an establishment that controls all the levers of power in Colombia, and managed to defeat it. A merit that, undoubtedly, should be applauded by all the democratic forces in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This is also a victory with continental projections because it reaffirms the winds of change that regained force in the region, after a brief interregnum of the right, with the election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico in July 2018, followed the following year by the victories of Alberto Fernández in Argentina and Evo Morales in Bolivia, the latter frustrated by the conspiracy engineered by the OAS, the White House and the Bolivian fascist right wing. However, with the victory of Luis Arce in 2020, the course provisionally abandoned due to the coup was resumed in Bolivia and, subsequently, the victories of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Pedro Castillo in Peru, Xiomara Castro in Honduras and Gabriel Boric in Chile, in addition to that of the Historic Pact in Colombia, reaffirmed the will for change that is increasingly stronger in this continent, the most unequal continent on the planet. This is a promising backdrop against which the great battle of the presidential elections in Brazil will be fought the coming October, where everything seems to indicate that Luiz Inacio “Lula” de Silva should win. In that case, we would once again have a Latin America tinged mostly red—a pale red, no doubt—but red nonetheless, and which opens the doors for renewed waves of transformation.

Obviously, Colombia’s tragic history forces us to be cautious. Petro is supposed to assume the presidency on August 7, when a new anniversary of the Battle of Boyacá is commemorated. Therefore, there is a hill to climb of almost two months before the candidate of the Historic Pact enters the Palacio de Nariño. Latin American history is filled with examples of stolen elections, assassinations of heads of state, and all kinds of stratagems aimed at discarding the will of the majority of the population. We cannot forget what happened in Chile, when after Salvador Allende’s triumph on September 4, 1970, the right wing launched with all its might—with the emphatic support of Nixon from the White House—to prevent the Congress from ratifying the victory of the Popular Unity candidate. And in that effort they did not hesitate to assassinate General René Schneider Chereau, a constitutionalist military officer and commander in chief of the Army, who had expressed the legalist vocation of the military.

In a country like Colombia, burdened by a succession of narco-governments that forged a solid alliance between paramilitarism, drug trafficking and the state security apparatus, it would not be surprising if the ultra-right sectors are willing to do anything to prevent Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez from taking office and, if that is not possible, to tie him up once in office so that he cannot govern. Let us not forget that in socio-political terms, in recent years Colombia has become a US protectorate, with at least seven US military bases installed in its territory, and it would be naive to think that tonight US officials will be toasting Petro’s triumph. Therefore, the Historic Pact has to redouble its attitude of permanent vigilance to prevent its victory from being stolen by the powerful Colombian right wing—which controls the wealth, the judiciary and the big media, and its sponsors based in Washington. For this it will be essential to count on “the other power” that is alternative to that of the establishment: the conscious, organized and mobilized people. The worst thing that could happen to the good and noble people grouped in the Historic Pact would be to think that the task is over and that it is time to go home. That is why it is encouraging to know that a few hours ago Petro wrote in a tweet that “today is the day of the streets and the squares.” I would add, however, that from now on every day should be a day of streets and squares because it is the only, exclusive, guarantee that a popular government has. This is not advice of this modest analyst but the central thesis of Niccolo Machiavelli when inquiring about the foundations of the political stability of popular governments. Let us hope that Petro, Francia Márquez and all their supporters take into account what the father of modern political science wrote.

(Resumen Latinoamericano – English)

Atilio Borón

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Atilio A. Borón is a Harvard Graduate professor of political theory at the University of Buenos Aires and was executive secretary of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO). He has published widely in several languages a variety of books and articles on political theory and philosophy, social theory, and comparative studies on the capitalist development in the periphery. He is an international analyst, writer and journalist and profoundly Latinoamerican.