by W. T. Whitney
During 212 years of Colombia’s national independence, the propertied
and wealthy classes, with military backing, have held the reins of
power. Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez, presidential and
vice-presidential candidates of the Historical Pact coalition, scored a
first-round victory in elections held on May 29. They are forerunners of
a new kind of government for Colombia.
If they prevail in second-round voting on June 19, they will head
Colombia’s first ever people-centered government. Petro’s opponent will
be the May 29 runner-up Rodolfo Hernández.
The tallies were: Petro, 40.3 percent (8.333.338 votes); Hernández, 28.1 percent (5.815.377 votes); Federico
Gutiérrez, 23.9 percent (4.939.579 votes). Other candidates shared the
remaining votes. The voter participation rate was 54 percent, standard
for Colombia.
Petro’s rightwing electoral opponents represented varying degrees of
attachment to the extremist ex-President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010) and
his protegee, current President Ivan Duque, who was not a candidate.
Oscar Zuluaga, the early standard-bearer for the Uribe cause ended his non-prospering campaign in March in favor of Federico Gutiérrez
and his “Team for Colombia” party. Opinion polls showed Gutiérrez
losing ground while, coincidentally, the candidacy of the conservative
Hernández was gaining support.
Petro, 62 years old, was a leader of the radical April 19 Movement,
mayor of Bogota, twice a presidential candidate, and has been a senator.
As such, he led in calling to account ex- President Uribe for political
corruption and ties with paramilitaries. He defines his politics as “not based on building socialism, but on building democracy and peace, period.”
Vice-presidential candidate Francia Márquez
projects what looks, from this vantage point, to be star-power. She is a
40-year-old African-descended lawyer and award-winning environmentalist
who, from her rural base, organized against plunder of natural
resources. As a presidential candidate in the primary elections in
March, she gained 780,000 votes from Historical Pact electors – third
place within that coalition. Her candidacy reflects a merger of sorts
between social-movement and political-party kinds of activism.
Candidate Rodolfo Hernández is a special case. Analyst Horacio Duque claims that,
“The Gringos’ Embassy and the [Colombian] ultraright are moving to
catapult” this former mayor of Bucaramanga “onto a platform for
existential salvation … by forcing a way toward a second round.” The
wealthy real estate profiteer and mega landlord for low-income renters
faces bribery
charges relating to a “brokerage contract” and trash disposal. With a
slogan of “no lying, no stealing, and no treason,” Hernández is a
self-described enemy of the “traditional clans.” He is a devotee of
social media.
The Historical Pact campaign benefited from circumstances. The
failings of 2016 Peace Agreement with the FARC insurgency are clear,
namely: persisting violence, no agrarian reform, and continuing drug war
in the countryside. Blame falls upon Uribe’s machinations and the Duque
government.
The campaign follows two years of demonstrations that, led by young
people, were violently repressed by the police. Protesters called for
full access to healthcare and education, pension reforms and new labor
legislation. They set an agenda for change.
Death threats greeting Petro and Francia Márquez on the campaign
trail forced them to cancel some events and deliver speeches from behind
protective shields. Earlier popular mobilizations had also triggered
ugly reactions.
Commentators recalled the assassinations of four leftist or liberal
presidential candidates between 1987 and 1990 and the murder of
prospective presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9,
1948. Petro and Gaitan are the only progressively-oriented political
figures in Colombia’s history to have had realistic hopes for becoming
president.
For a few days in early May the “Clan del Golfo” paramilitary group
reacted to its leader’s extradition to the United States on
drug-trafficking charges; paramilitaries “stole,
threatened, killed, and burned trucks and taxis” throughout northern
Colombia. They coordinated their mayhem with the police and soldiers,
and “the Duque government didn’t move a finger to contain them.”
Reasserting their role as enforcers and destabilizers, the
paramilitaries disrupted the Historical Pact’s campaign.
Petro and Márquez promised much. They would improve food security,
education, healthcare, pensions and reverse the privatization of human
services. Petro would rein
in extractive industries, cut back on fossil-fuel use, and renegotiate
free trade agreements. He called for land for small farmers, peace with
insurgent National Liberation Army, and for restraining the
paramilitaries. He promised to respect Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Colombia’s military is displeased about a prospective Petro
government. In April, Petro criticized military commanders’ close ties
with paramilitary bosses. In a revealing response that violated
constitutional norms, General Eduardo Zapateiro accused Petro of
harassing the military for political reasons and of having taken illegal
campaign funds.
An interventionist U.S. government is uneasy about a change-oriented
government in Colombia. U.S. General Laura Richardson, head of the U.S.
Southern Command, met with
Colombian General Luis Navarro in March. She sought assurance that a
Petro victory would not lead to the dismantling of seven U.S. Air Force
bases in Colombia. Navarro indicated military leaders and most
congresspersons would oppose such a step. The Southern Command issued a
press release confirming that “Colombia is a staunch security partner.”
U.S. Ambassador Phillip Goldberg’s comment
on electoral fraud, delivered to an interviewer in mid-May, had
destabilizing potential. He mentioned the “real risk
posed by the eventual interference in the elections by the Russians,
Venezuelans, or Cubans.” Goldberg’s excessive zeal for U.S. interests
had been on display in Bolivia. As ambassador there in 2008, he immersed
himself in an unsuccessful coup attempt against President Evo Morales – and was expelled.
The U.S. impulse to determine who governs in Colombia was on display on May 13 with a debate
involving Colombian vice-presidential candidates. It was staged in
Washington, not in Colombia. The congressionally-funded U.S. Institute
of Peace session hosted the session. The appearance was that of a junior
partner auditioning, as in seeking approval from a boss.
Commenting on his victory, Petro remarked that
“forces allied to Duque have been defeated … The message to the world
is that an era is finished.” Reaching out to “fearful businesspersons,”
he proposed that “social justice and economic stability are good for
productivity.”
The Historical Pact faces an uphill battle as it approaches the voting on June 19. According to an observer, opposition candidate Rodolfo Hernández
will inherit the institutional and personnel resources the Duque
government dedicated to the Federico Gutiérrez campaign. First – round
voters for the several rightwing candidates will now turn to Hernández.
The Historical Pact will have to engage with Colombians who did not vote
on May 29.
COUNTERPUNCH
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