People take part in a rally in support of Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Medellín, Colombia, on Feb. 8.
Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP via Getty Images
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Chanting and waving flags, hundreds of supporters of Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first-ever left-wing president, surrounded the Supreme Court building last month. They were angry because the judges inside were stonewalling Petro’s push to appoint Colombia’s first female attorney general.
“This is a progressive government that is trying to help the people,” said one Petro partisan, retired schoolteacher Cecilia Vargas. “But they are blocking him.”
Petro, who is a former left-wing guerrilla and Bogotá mayor, has pledged to transform Colombia into a more equal society. But during his nearly two years in office, Petro has often floundered and then made matters worse by lashing out at his critics on social media and in incendiary speeches.
“I think the difficulties of being the first leftist government in Colombia’s history have been augmented by self-inflicted wounds,” says Daniel García-Peña, a university professor who worked for Petro when he was mayor a decade ago. “Many people who voted for Petro were expecting something very different.”
Petro, 63, has gotten some things done.
He pushed through what analysts describe as a more equitable tax code. He reestablished diplomatic and commercial ties with neighboring Venezuela that had been severed in 2019 over that country’s crackdown on democracy. Petro has also maintained good relations with Washington, despite his efforts to overhaul Colombia’s long-running U.S.-backed anti-drug strategy.
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