Colombia’s first ever progressive government

Labour Hub Editors

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Nick MacWilliam reports on the progress of Gustavo Petro’s administration and previews Justice for Colombia’s fringe meeting at Labour’s upcoming Party Conference.

As eyes look ahead to Colombia’s presidential election in 2026, the current administration of Gustavo Petro – the first progressive government in Colombian history – is striving to turn its vision of a fair and conflict-free society into a reality.

Petro’s 2022 election was rooted in mass rejection of a ruling system that for decades enforced economic hardship on the majority. This was consolidated through state-led violent repression of social movements that challenged the status quo: trade unionists, indigenous communities, peasant farmers and students were routinely targeted by the security forces and their paramilitary proxies.

In April 2021, just over a year before Petro’s election, public indignation erupted in Colombia’s largest social uprising since the 1948 bogotazo (the violent protests that followed the assassination in the capital, Bogotá, of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Gaitán).

Huge protests across towns and cities were met with extreme state violence, as unarmed protesters were killed, sexually assaulted, beaten and blinded amid virtual impunity for the police officers responsible. The neoliberal system’s legitimacy was in shreds, paving the way for Petro – who had come close to the presidency four years earlier – to win the election on a pledge for transformative change rooted in peace, social investment, environmental protection and human rights.

Since taking office, the Petro government has made notable efforts to advance its progressive agenda. One major area is the peacebuilding strategy known as Paz Total, or Total Peace, that promotes dialogue with armed groups in pursuit of negotiated settlements for their disbandment. The previous government’s disregard for the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, then Latin America’s largest guerrilla movement, resulted in a proliferation of armed groups. As a consequence, conflict violence continues to affect several regions, as rival groups compete for territorial control, with local populations in the firing line.

Reaching settlements with these groups – which range from guerrillas to paramilitary successors to urban gangs – is a complex task, yet crucial to a stable and lasting peace. However, ongoing confrontation by some groups, which in places has seen ceasefires end, has raised questions over whether Total Peace will achieve its primary objective. International support can help keep the talks on track.

Tackling Colombia’s gaping inequality is another of the government’s core goals. The longstanding impact of oligarchic violence and neoliberal governance has created one of the world’s most unequal societies, with the outgoing Duque government’s woeful management of the pandemic exacerbating social conditions that, at the time of Petro’s election, saw over 40 per cent of the population subsisting below the poverty line.

The new government has proposed a series of expansive social reforms – in healthcare, labour rights, education and pensions – that provide access to essential services for millions of low-earning Colombians. Only the pensions reform has so far been approved, with the others encountering strong opposition in the national Congress, where Petro’s Historic Pact coalition lacks a majority and must find compromises with opposition blocs if it is to enact the economic redistribution so clearly required in Colombian society.

The prospects for Total Peace and the social reforms are just two of the important themes to be discussed in Justice for Colombia’s fringe meeting at Labour Party Conference. The keynote speaker is Historic Pact Congress member Alirio Uribe, who will provide an update on the current situation, while also examining the 2026 election in which Petro cannot be re-elected owing to Colombia’s single-term limit.

While there is awareness that the legacy of violence and inequality that has been the norm for generations of Colombians cannot be overcome in just four years, advances in Total Peace and the social reforms increase the likelihood of a continuation of progressive governance in 2026. Otherwise, Colombia’s traditional elite, still determined to stamp out any challenge to its economic interests, will be optimistic of retaking control of the country. That would be a major step backwards for all those in Colombia who dream of living amid peace and social justice.

If you are attending Labour Party Conference, you can join JfC’s fringe meeting:

‘How a Labour Government Can Support Peace in Colombia’
Tuesday 24th September, 5-6.30pm: Room 14, ACC Liverpool

Please note, you must have a conference pass to attend this fringe.

Alirio Uribe will also be speaking at the following Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America event (open to all):

‘¡Viva la Solidaridad! Stand with Latin America’s Left’

Monday 23rd September, 6.30-8pm: The Racquet Club Hotel and Ziba Restaurant, Liverpool L3 9AG

Click here for more details.

Nick MacWilliam is Trade Union & Programmes Officer at Justice for Colombia.

Image: Colombia – Women Peace and Security: Reintegration of former female combatants is a key piece of implementing peace. https://www.flickr.com/photos/unwomen/52607403838 Creator: UN Women/Pedro P’o | Credit: UN Women/Pedro P’o Copyright: UN Women/Pedro P’o. Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.