Colombia’s new president Gustavo Petro says US drug war has failed and wants to negotiate new policy

Petro, 62, says the U.S.-led anti-drug policy has failed, but has worked with Washington “on an equal footing” to build a plan to fight climate change, and how many farmers have grown coca leaves. He says he wants to build infrastructure in rural areas, which he says is most important. The only viable crop.

Petro also said during the presidential election that he would ally with environmentalists and turn Colombia into a “global powerhouse for life” by slowing deforestation and reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. I promised you.

He said Colombia would stop granting new licenses for oil exploration and ban fracking projects, even though the oil industry accounts for nearly 50% of the country’s legal exports. . 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.

“He has very ambitious plans,” said Jan Bassett, a political scientist at the University of Rosario in Bogotá. “But he will have to prioritize. Too many reforms at once and nothing to gain,” he said through the Colombian parliament.

Analysts say the Petro’s foreign policy has supported Washington’s drug policy, worked with the U.S. government to isolate the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and tried to give freedom to authoritarian leaders. I expect it to be markedly different from the foreign policy of its predecessor, Iván Duque. selection.

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Petro instead said he would endorse the Maduro government and cooperate with the Venezuelan president on several issues, including fighting rebel groups along the border, which is riddled with holes in the border. Border residents hope that improved ties will create more commercial and employment opportunities.

A few hours before Petro took office, at the most important border crossing with Venezuela, a group of people held Colombian flags and walked towards Venezuela chanting “Viva Colombia, Viva Venezuela!” Maduro’s supporters held a concert on the Venezuelan side of the border.

In the city of Cucuta, just a few miles from the Venezuelan border, vocational school student Daniela Cardenas wants Petro to implement education reforms, including free tuition for university students.

“He promised me so many things,” Cardenas, 19, said after traveling 90 minutes from a rural community to the city. “We have to work so we can pay for school, which is very expensive and that makes a lot of things difficult for us.”

Eight heads of state attended Petro’s inauguration in the large colonial square in front of the Colombian parliament. A park in Bogota’s city center was also set up with live music and a big screen stage, allowing tens of thousands of citizens to attend the festival without being invited to the main event. This marked a big change for Colombia, where presidential inauguration so far has been a solemn event confined to hundreds of his VIP guests.

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“It’s the first time people from the base are here to attend a presidential inauguration,” said Luis Alberto Tombe, a member of the Gambiano tribe who wears a traditional blue poncho. “We are honored to be here.”

But not everyone expects Peter to win. In Medellín, conservative activist Stéphane Bravo organized an anti-Petro march on Saturday, attended by about 500 people. And I worry that they will follow the policies of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

“Petro does not represent us,” said Bravo. “This government will be a threat to family values, private property and foreign investment.”

Petro won the election by just 2%, but Colombia is still polarized in a country where many were wary of ex-guerrillas entering politics.

His cabinet appointments have also been heavily scrutinized. The new president chose an internationally renowned economics professor as Minister of Finance, an academic studying the ill effects of extractive industries as Minister of Mines, and appointed the Ministry of Labor as Secretary. Colombian Communist Party.

“I think he’s trying to strike a balance,” said Sergio Guzman, a political risk analyst in Bogota. “He includes activists who have promised to be an integral part of his government, centrist technocrats who give confidence to the markets, and the various political parties he must rule in order for anything to pass in parliament. I did.”

APs